This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Richter, D. Articles by Matuschka, F.-R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Richter, D. Articles by Matuschka, F.-R. Agricola Articles by Richter, D. Articles by Matuschka, F.-R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2004, p. 6414-6419, Vol. 70, No. 11
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.11.6414-6419.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Relationships of a Novel Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia spielmani sp. nov., with Its Hosts in Central Europe

Abteilung Parasitologie, Institut für Pathologie, Charité, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Received 25 March 2004/ Accepted 29 June 2004

To determine whether the pathogenic variant of Lyme disease spirochetes, isolate A14S, is perpetuated in a particular reservoir-vector relationship, we screened vector ticks in various Central European sites for a related spirochete and determined its host association. A14S-like spirochetes infect numerous questing ticks in the Petite Camargue Alsacienne (PC). They frequently infect dormice, but no mice or voles. Garden dormice appear to be better reservoir hosts for A14S-like spirochetes than for Borrelia afzelii, because these spirochetes are retained longer and infect ticks more readily. Spirochetes associated with garden dormice in the PC site form a homologous entity with those isolated from a human patient in The Netherlands. Its unique biological relationship together with previous genetic characterization justifies designating this dormouse-associated genospecies as a distinct entity. Garden dormice serve as the main reservoir hosts of a novel genospecies, Borrelia spielmani sp. nov., one of several that cause Lyme disease in people.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Imachi, H., Sakai, S., Hirayama, H., Nakagawa, S., Nunoura, T., Takai, K., Horikoshi, K. (2008). Exilispira thermophila gen. nov., sp. nov., an anaerobic, thermophilic spirochaete isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 58: 2258-2265 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• (2008). MLST of housekeeping genes captures geographic population structure and suggests a European origin of Borrelia burgdorferi. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 8730-8735  
• Kraiczy, P., Seling, A., Brissette, C. A., Rossmann, E., Hunfeld, K.-P., Bykowski, T., Burns, L. H., Troese, M. J., Cooley, A. E., Miller, J. C., Brade, V., Wallich, R., Casjens, S., Stevenson, B. (2008). Borrelia burgdorferi Complement Regulator-Acquiring Surface Protein 2 (CspZ) as a Serological Marker of Human Lyme Disease. CVI 15: 484-491 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Saito, K., Ito, T., Asashima, N., Ohno, M., Nagai, R., Fujita, H., Koizumi, N., Takano, A., Watanabe, H., Kawabata, H. (2007). Borrelia valaisiana Infection in a Japanese Man Associated with Traveling to Foreign Countries. Am J Trop Med Hyg 77: 1124-1127 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Herzberger, P., Siegel, C., Skerka, C., Fingerle, V., Schulte-Spechtel, U., van Dam, A., Wilske, B., Brade, V., Zipfel, P. F., Wallich, R., Kraiczy, P. (2007). Human Pathogenic Borrelia spielmanii sp. nov. Resists Complement-Mediated Killing by Direct Binding of Immune Regulators Factor H and Factor H-Like Protein 1. Infect. Immun. 75: 4817-4825 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Richter, D., Matuschka, F.-R. (2006). Perpetuation of the Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia lusitaniae by Lizards.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 4627-4632 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Richter, D., Postic, D., Sertour, N., Livey, I., Matuschka, F.-R., Baranton, G. (2006). Delineation of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species by multilocus sequence analysis and confirmation of the delineation of Borrelia spielmanii sp. nov.. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 56: 873-881 [Abstract] [Full Text]