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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 2001, p. 494-497, Vol. 39, No. 2
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.2.494-497.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Lone Star Tick-Infecting Borreliae Are Most Closely Related to the Agent of Bovine Borreliosis

Stephen M. Rich,1 Philip M. Armstrong,2,3 Ronald D. Smith,4 and Sam R. Telford III2,*

Division of Infectious Disease, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton,1 and Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston,2 Massachusetts; Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Texas3; and Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Illinois School of Veterinary Medicine, Urbana, Illinois4

Received Recevied 15 May 2000/Returned for modification 5 September 2000/Accepted 9 November 2000

Although Borrelia theileri, the agent of bovine borreliosis, was described at the turn of the century (in 1903), its relationship with borreliae causing Lyme disease or relapsing fever remains undescribed. We tested the previously published hypothesis that spirochetes infecting Lone Star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) may comprise B. theileri by analyzing the 16S ribosomal DNAs (rDNAs) and flagellin genes of these spirochetes. B. theileri, the Amblyomma agent, and B. miyamotoi formed a natural group or clade distinct from but most closely related to that of the relapsing fever spirochetes. B. theileri and the Amblyomma agent were 97 and 98% similar at the nucleotide level within the analyzed portions of the 16S rDNA and the flagellin gene respectively, suggesting a recent divergence. The agent of bovine borreliosis might be explored as a surrogate antigen for the as-yet-uncultivatable Amblyomma agent in studies designed to explore the etiology of a Lyme disease-like infection associated with Lone Star ticks.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dept. of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Phone: (617) 432-4079. Fax: (617) 432-1796. E-mail: stelford{at}hsph.harvard.edu.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 2001, p. 494-497, Vol. 39, No. 2
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.2.494-497.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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