Borrelia burgdorferi erp proteins are immunogenic in mammals infected by tick bite, and their synthesis is inducible in cultured bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, can contain multiple genes encoding different members of the Erp lipoprotein family. Some arthropod-borne bacteria increase the synthesis of proteins required for transmission or mammalian infection when cultures are shifted from cool, ambient air temperature to a warmer, blood temperature. We found that all of the erp genes known to be encoded by infectious isolate B31 were differentially expressed in culture after a change in temperature, with greater amounts of message being produced by bacteria shifted from 23 to 35 degrees C than in those maintained at 23 degrees C. Mice infected with B31 by tick bite produced antibodies that recognized each of the Erp proteins within 4 weeks of infection, suggesting that the Erp proteins are

SUBMITTER: Stevenson B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC108251 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature