Skip to main content
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1995 Jul;33(7):1867–1869. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.7.1867-1869.1995

Expression of outer surface proteins A and C of Borrelia burgdorferi in Ixodes ricinus.

V Fingerle 1, U Hauser 1, G Liegl 1, B Petko 1, V Preac-Mursic 1, B Wilske 1
PMCID: PMC228287  PMID: 7665661

Abstract

A total of 472 field-collected Ixodes ricinus ticks from southern Germany were investigated by immunofluorescence for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi with a polyvalent rabbit immune serum and with monoclonal antibodies specific for outer surface proteins A and C (OspA and OspC, respectively). Borreliae were detected in 90 ticks with the polyvalent immunofluorescence assay. Infection rates in adults (females, 20.2%; males, 25.2%) were significantly higher than in nymphs (12.1%). OspA was detected in 77 ticks and OspC was detected in only 1 tick with the respective monoclonal antibodies. We therefore conclude that B. burgdorferi in unfed I. ricinus ticks usually expresses OspA and very rarely OspC.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (155.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barbour A. G., Burgdorfer W., Grunwaldt E., Steere A. C. Antibodies of patients with Lyme disease to components of the Ixodes dammini spirochete. J Clin Invest. 1983 Aug;72(2):504–515. doi: 10.1172/JCI110998. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burgdorfer W., Lane R. S., Barbour A. G., Gresbrink R. A., Anderson J. R. The western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus: a vector of Borrelia burgdorferi. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1985 Sep;34(5):925–930. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1985.34.925. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Burkot T. R., Patrican L., Piesman J. Field trial of an outer surface protein A (OspA) antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect Borrelia burgdorferi in Ixodes scapularis. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1994 Mar;50(3):354–358. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1994.50.354. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Craft J. E., Fischer D. K., Shimamoto G. T., Steere A. C. Antigens of Borrelia burgdorferi recognized during Lyme disease. Appearance of a new immunoglobulin M response and expansion of the immunoglobulin G response late in the illness. J Clin Invest. 1986 Oct;78(4):934–939. doi: 10.1172/JCI112683. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dressler F., Whalen J. A., Reinhardt B. N., Steere A. C. Western blotting in the serodiagnosis of Lyme disease. J Infect Dis. 1993 Feb;167(2):392–400. doi: 10.1093/infdis/167.2.392. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fikrig E., Barthold S. W., Kantor F. S., Flavell R. A. Protection of mice against the Lyme disease agent by immunizing with recombinant OspA. Science. 1990 Oct 26;250(4980):553–556. doi: 10.1126/science.2237407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hu C. M., Gern L., Aeschlimann A. Changes in the protein profile and antigenicity of different Borrelia burgdorferi strains after reintroduction to Ixodes ricinus ticks. Parasite Immunol. 1992 Jul;14(4):415–427. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3024.1992.tb00016.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Marconi R. T., Konkel M. E., Garon C. F. Variability of osp genes and gene products among species of Lyme disease spirochetes. Infect Immun. 1993 Jun;61(6):2611–2617. doi: 10.1128/iai.61.6.2611-2617.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Margolis N., Hogan D., Tilly K., Rosa P. A. Plasmid location of Borrelia purine biosynthesis gene homologs. J Bacteriol. 1994 Nov;176(21):6427–6432. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.21.6427-6432.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Park H. K., Jones B. E., Barbour A. G. Erythema chronicum migrans of Lyme disease: diagnosis by monoclonal antibodies. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1986 Aug;15(2 Pt 2):406–410. doi: 10.1016/s0190-9622(86)70190-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Preac-Mursic V., Wilske B., Patsouris E., Jauris S., Will G., Soutschek E., Rainhardt S., Lehnert G., Klockmann U., Mehraein P. Active immunization with pC protein of Borrelia burgdorferi protects gerbils against B. burgdorferi infection. Infection. 1992 Nov-Dec;20(6):342–349. doi: 10.1007/BF01710681. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rosa P. A., Schwan T., Hogan D. Recombination between genes encoding major outer surface proteins A and B of Borrelia burgdorferi. Mol Microbiol. 1992 Oct;6(20):3031–3040. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1992.tb01761.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sadziene A., Barbour A. G., Rosa P. A., Thomas D. D. An OspB mutant of Borrelia burgdorferi has reduced invasiveness in vitro and reduced infectivity in vivo. Infect Immun. 1993 Sep;61(9):3590–3596. doi: 10.1128/iai.61.9.3590-3596.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Schaible U. E., Kramer M. D., Eichmann K., Modolell M., Museteanu C., Simon M. M. Monoclonal antibodies specific for the outer surface protein A (OspA) of Borrelia burgdorferi prevent Lyme borreliosis in severe combined immunodeficiency (scid) mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 May;87(10):3768–3772. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.10.3768. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schwan T. G., Burgdorfer W. Antigenic changes of Borrelia burgdorferi as a result of in vitro cultivation. J Infect Dis. 1987 Nov;156(5):852–853. doi: 10.1093/infdis/156.5.852-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Schwan T. G., Simpson W. J. Factors influencing the antigenic reactivity of Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete. Scand J Infect Dis Suppl. 1991;77:94–101. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Temin H. M. Mechanisms of cell killing/cytopathic effects by nonhuman retroviruses. Rev Infect Dis. 1988 Mar-Apr;10(2):399–405. doi: 10.1093/clinids/10.2.399. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Willkens R. F., Nepom G. T., Marks C. R., Nettles J. W., Nepom B. S. Association of HLA-Dw16 with rheumatoid arthritis in Yakima Indians. Further evidence for the "shared epitope" hypothesis. Arthritis Rheum. 1991 Jan;34(1):43–47. doi: 10.1002/art.1780340107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wilske B., Fingerle V., Preac-Mursic V., Jauris-Heipke S., Hofmann A., Loy H., Pfister H. W., Rössler D., Soutschek E. Immunoblot using recombinant antigens derived from different genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Med Microbiol Immunol. 1994 Feb;183(1):43–59. doi: 10.1007/BF00193630. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Wilske B., Jauris-Heipke S., Lobentanzer R., Pradel I., Preac-Mursic V., Rössler D., Soutschek E., Johnson R. C. Phenotypic analysis of outer surface protein C (OspC) of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato by monoclonal antibodies: relationship to genospecies and OspA serotype. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Jan;33(1):103–109. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.1.103-109.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wilske B., Preac-Mursic V., Göbel U. B., Graf B., Jauris S., Soutschek E., Schwab E., Zumstein G. An OspA serotyping system for Borrelia burgdorferi based on reactivity with monoclonal antibodies and OspA sequence analysis. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Feb;31(2):340–350. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.2.340-350.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Wilske B., Preac-Mursic V., Jauris S., Hofmann A., Pradel I., Soutschek E., Schwab E., Will G., Wanner G. Immunological and molecular polymorphisms of OspC, an immunodominant major outer surface protein of Borrelia burgdorferi. Infect Immun. 1993 May;61(5):2182–2191. doi: 10.1128/iai.61.5.2182-2191.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Wilske B., Preac-Mursic V., Schierz G., Busch K. V. Immunochemical and immunological analysis of European Borrelia burgdorferi strains. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg A. 1986 Dec;263(1-2):92–102. doi: 10.1016/s0176-6724(86)80108-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wilske B., Preac-Mursic V., Schierz G., Kühbeck R., Barbour A. G., Kramer M. Antigenic variability of Borrelia burgdorferi. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1988;539:126–143. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1988.tb31846.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES