TABLE 1.

Pleomorphic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi and their characteristics.

Form	Description	DNA	GFP	Size
Spirochete	Corkscrew or any other clear spirochete form but in a variety of shapes [e.g., looped, ring (Miklossy et al., 2008), V-shaped etc.]	Yes	Yes	10–30 μm
Bleb	Spirochete with clear blebbing, can have several blebs, OR a detached bleb.	Yes/No	Yes	0.8–1.7 μm
Round body (RB)/coiling RB	Full RB or a forming RB that can include a “tail”	Yes	Yes	Full RB 2.4–3.2 μm Coiling RB >1.7 μm
Aggregate	Cluster of 10 or more bacteria, can include any one or all of the abovementioned pleomorphic forms	Yes	Yes	Varies, must have 10 or more bacterial cells
Damaged	Form/shape difficult to define into any of the abovementioned forms. Must lack either a DNA or GFP signal. Spheres are smaller than 0.8 μm

GFP, green fluorescent protein.