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Physiologic and Genetic Factors Influencing the Zoonotic Cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi

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Spirochete Biology: The Post Genomic Era

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology ((CT MICROBIOLOGY,volume 415))

Abstract

Borrelia burgdorferi is a symbiont of ticks of the Ixodes ricinus complex. These ticks serve as vectors to disseminate the spirochete to a variety of susceptible vertebrate hosts, which, in turn, act as reservoirs for naïve ticks to become infected, perpetuating the infectious life cycle of B. burgdorferi. The pivotal role of ticks in this life cycle and tick–spirochete interactions are the focus of this chapter. Here, we describe the challenging physiological environment that spirochetes encounter within Ixodes ticks, and the genetic factors that B. burgdorferi uses to successfully infect, persist, and be transmitted from the vector.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Tom Schwan for insights and discussions of tick biology and critical reading of the manuscript, and to Austin Athman for graphical expertise. The authors were supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIAID, NIH.

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  1. Laboratory of Zoonotic Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 903 South 4th St., Hamilton, MT, 59840, USA

    Philip E. Stewart & Patricia A. Rosa

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  1. Philip E. Stewart
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  2. Patricia A. Rosa
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Correspondence to Philip E. Stewart or Patricia A. Rosa .

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  1. Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Ben Adler

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Stewart, P.E., Rosa, P.A. (2017). Physiologic and Genetic Factors Influencing the Zoonotic Cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi. In: Adler, B. (eds) Spirochete Biology: The Post Genomic Era. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 415. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/82_2017_43

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