Table 1.
Infection of mice with lp28-3-deficient strains by needle inoculation or tick transmission
| B. burgdorferi straina | Route of infectionb | No. of mice seropositive/totalc | No. of infected mice/total inoculatedd |
|---|---|---|---|
| A3 | i.p./s.c. | 12/13 | 12/13 |
| C12 | i.p./s.c. | 9/13 | 9/13 |
| C33 | i.p./s.c. | 4/8 | 4/8 |
| A3 | Tick bite | 3/3 | 3/3 |
| C33 | Tick bite | 2/3 | 2/3 |
a
A3, wild type; C12 and C33, lp28-3 deficient.
b
i.p./s.c., intraperitoneal and subcutaneous injection with a target inoculum of 5 × 103 spirochetes per mouse. For the tick bite route, three naturally infected nymphs were fed to repletion on each mouse.
c
Seroconversion was assessed by immunoblot analysis with B. burgdorferi lysates.
d
Infection status was determined 4 or 8 weeks postinoculation by the ability to isolate spirochetes from the ear, bladder, and tibiotarsal joint tissues; isolates were recovered from all tissues tested from infected mice.