Tracking of Borrelia afzelii Transmission from Infected Ixodes ricinus Nymphs to Mice.
Infect Immun
; 87(6)2019 06.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30910791
ABSTRACT
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 scapularisBorrelia 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.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Vectores Arácnidos
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Enfermedad de Lyme
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Grupo Borrelia Burgdorferi
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Ixodes
Límite:
Animals
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Female
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Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Infect Immun
Año:
2019
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
República Checa