The ospC gene was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction from each of 76 Lyme disease Borrelia strains. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis demonstrated 33 distinct RFLP types; two additional RFLP types were identified from published ospC sequences. For each RFLP type, at least one ospC gene was sequenced and the degree of sequence relatedness examined by construction of an ospC gene tree. The genes were extremely diverse, with sequence identity ranging from 74.4% to 99.0%; the majority of changes are localized within the central portion of the molecule. A comparison of ospC sequences suggests that recombination occurs frequently between ospC alleles; this genetic exchange is proposed to be mediated by lateral transfer of ospC sequences. Evidence indicates that recombination occurs between ospC genes from the same Borrelia species (i.e. B. afzelii and B. garinii) as well as between different Borrelia species (i.e. B. afzelii and B. garinii, B. burgdorferi and genogroup DN127).

To evaluate multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) for taxonomic purposes in the delineation of species within Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, seven relevant loci of various strains for which extensive DNA–DNA reassociation data were available were sequenced. MLSA delineation proved to be fully concordant with conventional methods. Our analysis confirmed the delineation of a novel species, Borrelia spielmanii sp. nov., previously known as ‘Borrelia spielmani’ Richter et al. 2004, with strain PC-Eq17N5T (=DSM 16813T=CIP 108855T) as the type strain.

We found substantial population differentiation and recent trans-Atlantic dispersal of a high-virulence B. burgdorferi clone.

The rapid spread and the transmission to humans of avian influenza virus (H5N1) has induced worldwide fears of a new pandemic and raised concerns over the ability of standard influenza vaccine production methods to rapidly supply sufficient amounts of an effective vaccine. We report here on a robust and flexible strategy which uses wild-type virus grown in a continuous cell culture (Vero) system to produce an inactivated whole virus vaccine. Candidate vaccines based on clade 1 and clade 2 influenza H5N1 strains were developed and demonstrated to be highly immunogenic in animal models. The vaccines induce cross-neutralising antibodies, highly cross-reactive T-cell responses and are protective in a mouse challenge model not only against the homologous virus but against other H5N1 strains, including those from another clade. These data indicate that cell culture-grown, whole virus vaccines, based on the wild-type virus, allow the rapid high yield production of a candidate pandemic vaccine.

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