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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 1998, p. 269-272, Vol. 36, No. 1
Microbial Pathogenesis Unit, Catholic
University of Louvain Medical School, International Institute of
Cellular and Molecular Pathology, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium
Received 30 April 1997/Returned for modification 12 June
1997/Accepted 19 September 1997
Species-specific sequences were shown to be carried by plasmids of
the three main species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato involved in Lyme disease. Libraries of the 16-, 33-, and 25-kb plasmids
of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia
garinii, and Borrelia afzelii, respectively, were
then built and used to isolate species-specific sequences. After
sequencing of the cloned inserts, three sets of primers were designed.
They were shown to determine species-specific PCR amplification
products. The sensitivities of the PCR assay with these primers were
100 spirochetes for B. burgdorferi sensu stricto and 1,000 spirochetes for B. garinii and B. afzelii. The
usefulness of these primers for the identification of species in
biological samples (tick, serum, and cerebrospinal fluid samples) was
ascertained.
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Species-Specific Plasmid Sequences for PCR
Identification of the Three Species of Borrelia burgdorferi
Sensu Lato Involved in Lyme Disease
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Microbial
Pathogenesis Unit, Catholic University of Louvain Medical School,
International Institute of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, 74, Avenue
Hippocrate, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium. Phone and Fax: 32 2 764 74 51. E-mail: hoet{at}mipa.ucl.ac.be.
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