Dr. Hoffman lab’s research team collected mice samples from multiple counties in northern Michigan from 2019 through 2023. The samples were obtained by live-trapping mice, recording basic demographic data, and taking a tissue sample from each mouse by cutting a small piece of skin from the ear. After the data and samples were collected, the mice were released, and the samples were brought back to the Hoffman lab at Miami University for study.
DNA was extracted from each of the samples using the e.Z.N.A Omega Biotek kit. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was then performed for each sample in order to test for the B. burgdorferi-specific OspA gene. The resulting PCR products were run through a gel electrophoresis to determine whether the mice were infected or not infected with B. burgdorferi. The Benzie County sites proved to have a mixture of infected and uninfected mice.
We have begun to work with around fourteen sets of PCR primers that amplify microsatellite DNA. Each PCR product will be sized using the ABI3130 GeneMapper at the Center for Bioinformatics and Genomics. This approach is similar to the use of microsatellite DNA to compare sizes of fragments of individuals to a disease in order to create a pedigree. Individuals who share a higher number of fragments with each other are more closely related than those that have a lower number of shared fragments.