FIG 3.

Immunization with CspZ-YA prevented tissue colonization after exposure to ticks carrying multiple Lyme borrelia strains. Five C3H/HeN mice were vaccinated with CspZ-YA or inoculated with PBS and subsequently infected by nymphal ticks carrying B. burgdorferi strain 297 or B. afzelii strain VS461-JL. Uninfected nymphs were placed on an additional five mice inoculated with PBS as a negative control (N.A.). Spirochete burdens at the tick feeding site (Inoc. Site) (a), knees (b), bladder (c), and ears (d) were quantitatively measured at 21 dpf and are indicated as the number of spirochetes per 100 ng total DNA. Data shown are the geometric mean ± geometric standard deviation of the spirochete burdens from each group of the mice. Asterisks indicate the statistical significance (P < 0.05, Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparisons) of differences in bacterial burden relative to that of uninfected mice.