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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2000, p. 120-124, Vol. 38, No. 1
Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology, Department of
Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia
30460-80561; Department of Health
Science, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida
322242; Department of Pathology,
Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia
30912-36053; and Cypress Gardens,
Moncks Corner, South Carolina 294614
Received 6 July 1999/Returned for modification 24 August
1999/Accepted 28 September 1999
Twenty-eight Borrelia burgdorferi isolates from the
Charleston, S.C., area are described. This represents the first report and characterization of the Lyme disease spirochete from that state.
The isolates were obtained from December 1994 through December 1995 from the tick Ixodes scapularis, collected from vegetation, and from the rodents Peromyscus gossypinus (cotton mouse),
Neotoma floridana (eastern wood rat), and Sigmodon
hispidus (cotton rat). All isolates were screened immunologically
by indirect immunofluorescence with monoclonal antibodies to B. burgdorferi-specific outer surface protein A (OspA) (antibodies
H5332 and H3TS) and B. burgdorferi-specific OspB
(antibodies H6831 and H614), a Borrelia (genus)-specific antiflagellin antibody (H9724), Borrelia hermsii-specific
antibodies (H9826 and H4825), and two polyclonal antibodies (one to
Borrelia species and another to B. burgdorferi). Six of the isolates were analyzed by exposing
Western blots to monoclonal antibodies H5332, H3TS, H6831, and H9724.
All isolates were also analyzed by PCR with five pairs of primers known
to amplify selected DNA target sequences specifically reported to be
present in the reference strain, B. burgdorferi B-31. The
protein profiles of six of the isolates (two from ticks, one from a
cotton mouse, two from wood rats, and one from a cotton rat) also were
compared by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
We conclude that the 28 Charleston isolates are B. burgdorferi sensu stricto based on their similarities to the
B. burgdorferi B-31 reference strain.
0095-1137/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Isolation, Cultivation, and Characterization of Borrelia
burgdorferi from Rodents and Ticks in the Charleston Area
of South Carolina

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of
Arthropodology and Parasitology, P.O. Box 8056, Georgia Southern
University, Statesboro, GA 30460-8056. Phone: (912) 681-5564. Fax:
(912) 681-0559. E-mail: JOliver{at}GaSou.edu.
Present address: CDC (NCID) Div. of Vector-Borne Infectious
Diseases, Foothills Campus, Fort Collins, CO 80522.
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