Tracking of Borrelia afzelii Transmission from Infected Ixodes ricinus Nymphs to Mice

0520425 - BC 2020 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Pospíšilová, Tereza - Urbanová, Veronika - Hes, O. - Kopáček, Petr - Hajdušek, Ondřej - Šíma, Radek
Tracking of Borrelia afzelii Transmission from Infected Ixodes ricinus Nymphs to Mice.
Infection and Immunity. Roč. 87, č. 6 (2019), č. článku e00896-18. ISSN 0019-9567. E-ISSN 1098-5522
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA17-27393S; GA ČR(CZ) GA17-27386S; GA ČR(CZ) GA18-01832S; GA MŠMT(CZ) EF16_019/0000759
EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 602272 - ANTIDotE
Institutional support: RVO:60077344
Keywords : lyme-disease spirochete * burgdorferi sensu-stricto * gene-expression * north-america * ticks * ospc * time * kinetics * protein * growth * Borrelia * Borrelia afzelii * Ixodes ricinus * Lyme disease * tick-borne pathogens * transmission
OECD category: Microbiology
Impact factor: 3.201, year: 2019
Method of publishing: Open access
https://iai.asm.org/content/iai/87/6/e00896-18.full.pdf

Quantitative and microscopic tracking of Borrelia afzelii transmission from infected Ixodes ricinus nymphs has shown a transmission cycle different from that of Borrelia burgdorferi and Ixodes scapularis. Borrelia afzelii organisms are abundant in the guts of unfed I. ricinus nymphs, and their numbers continuously decrease during feeding. Borrelia afzelii spirochetes are present in murine skin within 1 day of tick attachment. In contrast, spirochetes were not detectable in salivary glands at any stage of tick feeding. Further experiments demonstrated that tick saliva is not essential for B. afzelii infectivity, the most important requirement for successful host colonization being a change in expression of outer surface proteins that occurs in the tick gut during feeding. Spirochetes in vertebrate mode are then able to survive within the host even in the absence of tick saliva. Taken together, our data suggest that the tick gut is the decisive organ that determines the competence of I. ricinus to vector B. afzelii. We discuss possible transmission mechanisms of B. afzelii spirochetes that should be further tested in order to design effective preventive and therapeutic strategies against Lyme disease.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0305100