Exploring Diversity among NorwegianBorreliaStrains Originating fromIxodes ricinusTicks

[摘要] Characterisation ofBorreliastrains fromIxodes ricinusticks is important in the epidemiological surveillance of vector-borne pathogens. Multilocus sequences analysis (MLSA) is a molecular genotyping tool with high discriminatory power that has been applied in evolutionary studies and for the characterisation ofBorreliagenospecies. MLSA was used to study genetic variations inBorreliastrains isolated fromI. ricinusticks collected from the woodlands in Skodje. The results demonstrate that the 50Borreliastrains were separated into 36 sequence types (STs) that were not previously represented in the MLST database. A distance matrix neighbour-joining tree (bootstrapped 500 iterations) showed four deeply branched clusters, and each deeply branched cluster represented oneBorreliagenospecies. The mean pairwise genetic differences confirm the genospecies clustering. The combination of alleles separates theBorreliastrains from northwest Norway from the strains in the MLST database, thus identifying new STs. Although a highly divergentB. afzeliipopulation could be expected, the heterogeneity among theB. gariniistrains is more unusual. The present study indicates that the circulation of strains between migrating birds and stationary birds in this coastal region may play a role in the evolution ofB. gariniistrains.

[学科分类] 微生物学和免疫学