Figure 6.

RFLP analysis of the vlsE locus of B. burgdorferi in culture, unfed, and partially engorged (48-hr) ticks. (A) Summary of the vlsE variants detected by RFLP analysis. The single vlsE allele in cultured bacteria was designated as the parental allele. In partially fed ticks, the 24 clones belonged to 13 different RFLP types, all of which were different from the parent type. (B) Lane 1, 20-bp ladder; lane 2, RFLP pattern of parental B31-C1; lanes 3 and 4, RFLP patterns of 2 of the 3 alleles detected in unfed ticks; lanes 5–9, RFLP patterns of 4 of the 13 alleles detected in fed ticks. The asterisks mark new bands in the clones that are absent from the parental strain. The dots mark bands present in parental strain that are absent from the clone tested.