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Genetic Manipulation of Borrelia Spp.

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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

The spirochetes Borrelia (Borreliella) burgdorferi and Borrelia hermsii, the etiologic agents of Lyme disease and relapsing fever, respectively, cycle in nature between an arthropod vector and a vertebrate host. They have extraordinarily unusual genomes that are highly segmented and predominantly linear. The genetic analyses of Lyme disease spirochetes have become increasingly more sophisticated, while the age of genetic investigation in the relapsing fever spirochetes is just dawning. Molecular tools available for B. burgdorferi and related species range from simple selectable markers and gene reporters to state-of-the-art inducible gene expression systems that function in the animal model and high-throughput mutagenesis methodologies, despite nearly overwhelming experimental obstacles. This armamentarium has empowered borreliologists to build a formidable genetic understanding of the cellular physiology of the spirochete and the molecular pathogenesis of Lyme disease.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ben Adler for thoughtful reading of the manuscript and Darrin Akins, Jim Battisti, Melissa Caimano, Sherwood Casjens, George Chaconas, Christian Eggers, Frank Gherardini, Mike Gilbert, Laura Hall, Chris Li, Meghan Lybecker, Rich Marconi, Motaleb, Steve Norris, Justin Radolf, Sandy Raffel, Patti Rosa, Tom Schwan, Jon Skare, Phil Stewart, Kit Tilly, and Frank Yang for useful discussions about the genetic manipulation of Borrelia. Our laboratory is supported by National Institutes of Health grant AI051486 (to D.S.S.).

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  1. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA

    Dan Drecktrah & D. Scott Samuels

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  1. Dan Drecktrah
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Correspondence to Dan Drecktrah or D. Scott Samuels .

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

    Ben Adler

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Drecktrah, D., Samuels, D.S. (2017). Genetic Manipulation of Borrelia Spp.. 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_51

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