Bacteriolytic Activity of Selected Vertebrate Sera for Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Stricto and Borrelia bissettii

Authors

Amy J. Ullmann, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522
Robert S. Lane, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, Division of Insect Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
Klaus Kurtenbach, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, St. Mary’s Campus, Norfolk Place, London
Michael Miller, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Fort Collins, ColoradoFollow
Martin E. Schriefer, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522
Nordin Zeidner, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522
Joseph Piesman, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522

Date of this Version

12-2003

Comments

Published in J. Parasitol., 89(6), 2003, pp. 1256–1257.

Abstract

An in vitro assay to evaluate the bacteriolytic activity of the complement pathway was applied to 2 strains of Borrelia bissettii, CO501 and DN127, and compared with that of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto B31. Sera from mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus) and the Western Fence lizard ( Sceloporus occidentalis) were completely borreliacidal for B. burgdorferi and for both strains of B. bissettii. Serum from Bobwhite quail ( Colinus virginianus) was nonlytic for B. burgdorferi and partially lytic for B. bissettii strains, CO-501 and DN127. Serum from a New Zealand White rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus) was partially lytic for all 3 strains of Borrelia, whereas serum from white-footed mice ( Peromyscus leucopus) were nonlytic for all 3 Borrelia strains. The spectrum of complement sensitivity of B. bissettii appears to be similar to that of European B. afzelii in that tested rodent serum is not lytic to these 2 genospecies. Interestingly, both B. bissettii and B. afzelii have been found to be closely associated with rodents. Complement sensitivity demonstrated in these experiments may suggest and possibly predict specific reservoir–host associations.