Conservation and heterogeneity of vlsE among human and tick isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi.

ABSTRACT: The vls (variable major protein [VMP]-like sequence) locus of Borrelia burgdorferi encodes an antigenic variation system that closely resembles the VMP system of relapsing fever borreliae. To determine whether vls sequences are present consistently in low-passage, infectious isolates of B. burgdorferi, 22 blood and erythema migrans biopsy isolates from Lyme disease patients in Westchester County, New York, were examined by Southern blot and PCR analysis. Each of the strains contained a single plasmid varying in size from 21 to 38 kb that hybridized strongly with a vlsE probe based on the B. burgdorferi B31 sequence. In contrast, PCR products were obtained with only 10 of the 22 strains when primers corresponding to the 5' and 3' regions of the B31 vlsE sequence outside the variable cassett

SUBMITTER: Iyer R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC97336 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature