Two Boundaries Separate Borrelia burgdorferi Populations in North America

Margos, Gabriele; Tsao, Jean I.; Castillo-Ramírez, Santiago; Girard, Yvette A.; Hamer, Sarah A.; Hoen, Anne G.; Lane, Robert S.; Raper, Steve L.; Ogden, Nicholas H.

doi:10.1128/aem.00231-12

Cited by 41 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…rodent reservoir hosts. These lineages have a geographic pattern in North America that is much more complex (95,96) than that currently considered for B. burgdorferi phylogeography (49,50,51). This pattern has already proven to be compellingly associated with the phylogeographic pattern of zoonoses other than B. burgdorferi (e.g., Sin Nombre virus [97]) and could be similarly associated with B. burgdorferi, given recent evidence indicating that exposure of rodent hosts to B. burgdorferi infections may reciprocally shape their populations (30).…”

Section: Ecological Origins and Clinical And Diagnostic Importance Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Evolutionary Aspects of Emerging Lyme Disease in Canada

Ogden

Feil

Leighton

et al. 2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

fIn North America, Lyme disease (LD) is a tick-borne zoonosis caused by the spirochete bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, which is maintained by wildlife. Tick vectors and bacteria are currently spreading into Canada and causing increasing numbers of cases of LD in humans and raising a pressing need for public health responses. There is no vaccine, and LD prevention depends on knowing who is at risk and informing them how to protect themselves from infection. Recently, it was found in the United States that some strains of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto cause severe disease, whereas others cause mild, self-limiting disease. While many strains occurring in the United States also occur in Canada, strains in some parts of Canada are different from those in the United States. We therefore recognize a need to identify which strains specific to Canada can cause severe disease and to characterize their geographic distribution to determine which Canadians are particularly at risk. In this review, we summarize the history of emergence of LD in North America, our current knowledge of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto diversity, its intriguing origins in the ecology and evolution of the bacterium, and its importance for the epidemiology and clinical and laboratory diagnosis of LD. We propose methods for investigating associations between B. burgdorferi sensu stricto diversity, ecology, and pathogenicity and for developing predictive tools to guide public health interventions. We also highlight the emergence of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto in Canada as a unique opportunity for exploring the evolutionary aspects of tick-borne pathogen emergence.

show abstract

Section: Ecological Origins and Clinical And Diagnostic Importance Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1), and geographic and landscape barriers currently limit gene flow between these groups (50). However, the main phylogenetic pattern of clades is not geographically defined, as illustrated in Fig.…”

Section: Diversity Of Borrelia Burgdorferimentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary Aspects of Emerging Lyme Disease in Canada

Ogden

Feil

Leighton

et al. 2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There are three recognized risk areas for Lyme disease in the United States: the Northeast (NE), the upper Midwest (MW), and the West (particularly California). Genetic differentiation of B. burgdorferi from these three regions has been noted and is likely due to geographic isolation by landscape features (4,(6)(7)(8)(9). These populations have undergone recent expansions, but the available evidence also points to phylogenetically deeper and more complex patterns of expansion, contraction, and population mixing in the ancient past.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These populations have undergone recent expansions, but the available evidence also points to phylogenetically deeper and more complex patterns of expansion, contraction, and population mixing in the ancient past. Nevertheless, to date, studies have suggested an apparent spread from the Northeast through the Midwest to California (4,6).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies have emphasized the scope of genetic diversity of B. burgdorferi (2)(3)(4). For members of the B. burgdorferi sensu lato complex (to which B. burgdorferi belongs), diversity is likely to reflect a combination of historic patterns of geographic dispersion and associations or coevolution with different reservoir host species (4,5). There are three recognized risk areas for Lyme disease in the United States: the Northeast (NE), the upper Midwest (MW), and the West (particularly California).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Complex Population Structure of Borrelia burgdorferi in Southeastern and South Central Canada as Revealed by Phylogeographic Analysis

Mechai

Margos

Feil

et al. 2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

g Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, is an emerging zoonotic disease in Canada and is vectored by the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis. Here we used Bayesian analyses of sequence types (STs), determined by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), to investigate the phylogeography of B. burgdorferi populations in southern Canada and the United States by analyzing MLST data from 564 B. burgdorferi-positive samples collected during surveillance. A total of 107 Canadian samples from field sites were characterized as part of this study, and these data were combined with existing MLST data for samples from the United States and Canada. Only 17% of STs were common between both countries, while 49% occurred only in the United States, and 34% occurred only in Canada. However, STs in southeastern Ontario and southwestern Quebec were typically identical to those in the northeastern United States, suggesting a recent introduction into this region from the United States. In contrast, STs in other locations in Canada (the Maritimes; Long Point, Ontario; and southeastern Manitoba) were frequently unique to those locations but were putative descendants of STs previously found in the United States. The picture in Canada is consistent with relatively recent introductions from multiple refugial populations in the United States. These data thus point to a geographic pattern of populations of B. burgdorferi in North America that may be more complex than simply comprising northeastern, midwestern, and Californian groups. We speculate that this reflects the complex ecology and spatial distribution of key reservoir hosts.

show abstract

Molecular Typing ofBorrelia burgdorferi

et al. 2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is a group of spirochetes belonging to the genus Borrelia in the family of Spirochaetaceae. The spirochete is transmitted between reservoirs and hosts by ticks of the family Ixodidae. Infection with B. burgdorferi in humans causes Lyme disease or Lyme borreliosis. Currently, 20 Lyme disease-associated Borrelia species and more than 20 relapsing fever-associated Borrelia species have been described. Identification and differentiation of different Borrelia species and strains is largely dependent on analyses of their genetic characteristics. A variety of molecular techniques have been described for Borrelia isolate speciation, molecular epidemiology, and pathogenicity studies. In this unit, we focus on three basic protocols, PCR-RFLP-based typing of the rrs-rrlA and rrfA-rrlB ribosomal spacer, ospC typing, and MLST. These protocols can be employed alone or in combination for characterization of B. burgdorferi isolates or directly on uncultivated organisms in ticks, mammalian host reservoirs, and human clinical specimens.

show abstract

Two Boundaries Separate Borrelia burgdorferi Populations in North America

Cited by 41 publications

References 52 publications

Evolutionary Aspects of Emerging Lyme Disease in Canada

Evolutionary Aspects of Emerging Lyme Disease in Canada

Complex Population Structure of Borrelia burgdorferi in Southeastern and South Central Canada as Revealed by Phylogeographic Analysis

Molecular Typing ofBorrelia burgdorferi

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About