For any of you who have never heard of Borrelia burgdorferi, perhaps the name of the disease it causes might ring a bell, Lyme disease. Lyme disease is now the most common tick-transmitted illness in the United States. It was first reported in Connecticut in the mid-1970's, but it was not until 1982 before Borrelia burgdorferi was isolated and cultured from the mid-gut of ticks.
Borrelia burgdorferi has been described as a novel spirochete. It resembles other spirochetes in that it is a highly specialized, motile, two-membrane, spiral-shaped bacterium that lives primarily as an extracellular pathogen. While only 0.2 to 0.3 micrometers wide, the cell length may exceed 15 to 20 micrometers.
One of the most striking features of Borrelia burgdorferi, when compared with other eubacteria, is its unusual genome. It is unusual in that it includes a linear chromosome approximately one megabase in size and numerous linear and circular plasmids. Long-term culture of Borrelia burgdorferi is possible, but it often results in a loss of some plasmids and changes in expressed protein profiles. Interestingly, associated with the loss of plasmids is a loss in the ability of the organism to infect laboratory animals. This suggests that the plasmids may encode hey genes involved in virulence.
Lyme disease can affect people of any age or gender. Infection develops within a week to a few months of the tick bite. Symptoms include a rash, fever, headache, fatigue, stiff-neck, muscle and or joint pain. Borrelia burgdorferi is susceptible to antibiotics, such as tetracycline or penicillin, in the early stages of the illness. Once it reaches the chronic stage only ceftriaxone, a highly active b -lactam antibiotic is used because it is one of the few antibiotics that can cross the blood-brain barrier and thus attack spirochetes residing in the central nervous system.
Bibliography
Borrelia Burgdorferi http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/bburg.jpg
Borrelia Burgdorferi http://www.dis.strath.ac.uk/vie/LymeEU/images/leaflbor.jpg
Borrelia Burgdorferi http://www.tigr.org/tdb/CMR/gbb/htmls/Background.html
Borrelia Burgdorferi http://www.tigr.org/tdb/CMR/gbb/htmls/SplashPage.html
Borrelia Burgdorferi Wadsworth Center, http://www.wadsworth.org/databank/borreli.htm
DSMZ - Medium 403: BSK-MEDIUM http://www.dsmz.de/media/med403.htm
ã by DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany
National Library of Medicine http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10672174&dopt=Abstract
New York State Department of Health Communicable Disease Fact Sheet http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/search/index.htm
Pathogenic Spirochaetaceae http://www.pasteur.fr/recherche/borrelia/picts/spiro.jpg
*Disclaimer - This report was written by a student participaring in a microbiology course at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. The accuracy of the contents of this report is not guaranteed and it is recommended that you seek additional sources of information to verify the contents.
Return to Missouri S&T Microbiology HomePage Go to DJW's HomePage
This Document is maintained by djwesten@ mst.edu
