Figure 6. Telomere-mediated deletion of the vls locus in B. burgdorferi.

A) Construction strategy for the generation of the vls deletion mutant clone of B. burgdorferi B31. The target sequence for insertion (green) is chosen so that only the vls locus would be deleted from lp28-1 plasmid. The genes encoding plasmid maintenance proteins that have been previously shown to allow autonomous replication are shown as black-lined arrows. B) Schematic of the construction strategy for the lp28-1Δleft plasmid. The target sequence for insertion (green) was chosen so that only the genes encoding proteins that allow autonomous replication of lp28-1 (shown as arrows arranged from left to right), and the right side of lp28-1 would remain. Hairpin telomeres are shown as red hatched regions. Figure adapted from ref. 78 with permission.