TABLE 4.
Tissue transfer-mediated infection between various inbred and outbred mouse strains
| B. burgdorferi strain transferred | Mouse strain
|
Recipient infection
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donor | Recipient | Micea | Earb | Bladderb | Jointb | Transfer siteb | |
| A3 (wild type) | C3H/HeN | C57BL/6 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 |
| A3 (wild type) | C57BL/6 | C3H/HeN | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| A3 (wild type) | RML | C3H/HeN | 2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 |
| A3 (wild type) | RML | C57BL/6 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 |
| ospCK1* (ospC mutant)c | C3H/HeN | C57BL/6 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 |
| ospCK1* (ospC mutant)c | C57BL/6 | C3H/HeN | 3/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| ospCK1* (ospC mutant)c | RML | C3H/HeN | 2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 |
| ospCK1* (ospC mutant)c | RML | C57BL/6 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 |
a
Number of mice infected/number of mice receiving tissue transfer, confirmed by serology and reisolation.
b
Number of tissues positive/number of tissues from which reisolation was attempted.
c
Spirochetes from donor mice inoculated with ospCK1/pBSV2G-ospC were demonstrated to have lost the complementing plasmid, as described in Materials and Methods, confirming that the mice were persistently infected with ospC mutant spirochetes, called ospCK1*.