Dataset Information

A newly discovered cholesteryl galactoside from Borrelia burgdorferi.

ABSTRACT: Two major glycolipids, which comprise approximately 36% of the total lipid mass from Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiological agent of Lyme disease, were investigated. We determined the fatty acid type, sugar identity, anomeric configuration, and substituent type and position. The structures were identified as cholesteryl 6-O-acyl-beta-d-galactopyranoside (B. burgdorferi glycolipid 1, BbGL-I), and 1,2-di-O-acyl-3-O-alpha-d-galactopyranosyl-sn-glycerol (BbGL-II). The major fatty acids were palmitate and oleate. The structures were corroborated by gas-liquid chromatography MS, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight spectroscopy, fast atom bombardment MS, detailed NMR spectrometry, and metabolic labeling. This is a previously undescribed demonstration of a cholesteryl galactoside in bacteria. Lipopolysaccharide was not detected in B. burgdorferi. The two glycolipids have several properties suggesting they may function as lipopolysaccharide: both are main components of the bacterial membrane, surface exposed, and have a three-domain structure. BbGL-I elicited specific antibodies in mice and rabbits, and BbGL-II elicited antibodies that reacted with both glycolipids.

SUBMITTER: Ben-Menachem G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC164687 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A newly discovered cholesteryl galactoside from Borrelia burgdorferi.

Ben-Menachem Gil G Kubler-Kielb Joanna J Coxon Bruce B Yergey Alfred A Schneerson Rachel R

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20030610 13

Two major glycolipids, which comprise approximately 36% of the total lipid mass from Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiological agent of Lyme disease, were investigated. We determined the fatty acid type, sugar identity, anomeric configuration, and substituent type and position. The structures were identified as cholesteryl 6-O-acyl-beta-d-galactopyranoside (B. burgdorferi glycolipid 1, BbGL-I), and 1,2-di-O-acyl-3-O-alpha-d-galactopyranosyl-sn-glycerol (BbGL-II). The major fatty acids were palmitate ...[more]

PMID: 12799465

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Project description:Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia miyamotoi are tick-vectored zoonotic pathogens maintained in wildlife species. Tick populations are establishing in new areas globally in response to climate change and other factors. New Brunswick is a Canadian maritime province at the advancing front of tick population establishment and has seen increasing numbers of ticks carrying B. burgdorferi, and more recently B. miyamotoi. Further, it is part of a region of Atlantic Canada with wildlife species composition differing from much of continental North America and little information exists as to the presence and frequency of infection of Borrelia spp. in wildlife in this region. We used a citizen science approach to collect a wide range of animals including migratory birds, medium-sized mammals, and small mammals. In total we tested 339 animals representing 20 species for the presence of B. burgdorferi and B. miyamotoi. We have developed new nested PCR primers and a protocol with excellent specificity for detecting both of these Borrelia species, both single and double infections, in tissues and organs of various wildlife species. The positive animals were primarily small non-migratory mammals, approximately twice as many were infected with B. burgdorferi than B. miyamotoi and one animal was found infected with both. In addition to established reservoir species, the jumping mouse (Napaeozapus insignis) was found frequently infected; this species had the highest infection prevalence for both B. burgdorferi and B. miyamotoi and has not previously been identified as an important carrier for either Borrelia species. Comprehensive testing of tissues found that all instances of B. burgdorferi infection were limited to one tissue within the host, whereas two of the five B. miyamotoi infections were diffuse and found in multiple systems. In the one coinfected specimen, two fetuses were also recovered and found infected with B. miyamotoi. This presumptive transplacental transmission suggests that vertical transmission in mammals is possible. This finding implies that B. miyamotoi could rapidly spread into wildlife populations, as well as having potential human health implications.

Dataset Information

A newly discovered cholesteryl galactoside from Borrelia burgdorferi.

Publications

A newly discovered cholesteryl galactoside from Borrelia burgdorferi.

Similar Datasets

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