Borrelia chilensis
A newly discovered genospecies of Lyme disease.
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Genome Announc. 2015 Feb 12;3(1). pii: e01535-14. doi: 10.1128/genomeA.01535-14.
Genome Sequence of Borrelia chilensis VA1, a South American Member of the Lyme Borreliosis Group.
Huang W1, Ojaimi C1, Fallon JT1, Travisany D2, Maass A2, Ivanova L3, Tomova A, González-Acuña D4, Godfrey HP5, Cabello FC3.
Borrelia chilensis strain VA1 is a recently described South American member of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex from Chile. Whole-genome sequencing analysis determined its linear chromosome and plasmids lp54 and cp26, confirmed its membership in the Lyme borreliosis group, and will open new research avenues regarding its pathogenic potential.
Copyright © 2015 Huang et al.
PMID: 25676758
Borrelia chilensis, a new member of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex that extends the range of this genospecies in the Southern Hemisphere.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA.
Environmental Microbiology (Impact Factor: 6.24). 10/2013; DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.12310
Source: PubMed
ABSTRACT Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), transmitted by Ixodes spp. ticks, is the causative agent of Lyme disease. Although Ixodes spp. ticks are distributed in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres, evidence for the presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in South America apart from Uruguay is lacking.
We now report the presence of culturable spirochetes with flat-wave morphology and borrelial DNA in endemic Ixodes stilesi ticks collected in Chile from environmental vegetation and long-tailed rice rats (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus). Cultured spirochetes and borrelial DNA in ticks were characterized by multilocus sequence typing and by sequencing five other loci (16S and 23S ribosomal genes, 5S-23S intergenic spacer, flaB, ospC). Phylogenetic analysis placed this spirochete as a new genospecies within the Lyme borreliosis group. Its plasmid profile determined by PCR and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis differed from that of B. burgdorferi B31A3.
We propose naming this new South American member of the Lyme borreliosis group Borrelia chilensis VA1, in honor of its country of origin.