Borrelia mayonii
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| Borrelia mayonii | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Kingdom: | Pseudomonadati |
| Phylum: | Spirochaetota |
| Class: | Spirochaetia |
| Order: | Spirochaetales |
| Family: | Borreliaceae |
| Genus: | Borrelia |
| Species: | B. mayonii |
| Binomial name | |
| Borrelia mayonii Pritt et al. 2016 | |
Borrelia mayonii is a Gram-negative, host-associated spirochete that is capable of causing Lyme disease. This organism can infect various vertebrate hosts such as humans via the bite of a black legged tick.[1]
Borrelia mayonii was identified as a sensu lato (broad sense), genospecies (Bbsl) of the known microbe, Borrelia burgdorferi.[2] A genospecies is a cluster of organisms with similar core genes that usually does not undergo genetic recombination with diverged organisms.[3] Two isolates, gene strains, of B. mayonii, named MN14-1420 and MN14-1539, were sequenced, process of arranging a chain of genetic information to match up to a specific organism's genetic code, and compared to the genome or genetic material of Borrelia burgdorferi.[2] With a nucleotide similarity of 93.83% in the linear chromosome compared to other known genospecies, B. mayonii can be considered a new genospecies (Bbsl).[2]
Discovery
Borrelia mayonii is a bacterial genospecies discovered in the Midwestern United States[2] by Pritt and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota during routine polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the oppA1 gene of B. burgdorferi in 2016.[1] According to Pritt, six samples were atypical and did not resemble any known species. These atypical microorganisms were later named after the Mayo Clinic as a new genospecies. The spirochaete, a flexible and spiral twist bacterium, was also detected in the blood of infected individuals using PCR and microscopy and was cultivated or grown in a modified Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly (BSK) plate, a microbial growth plate consisting of bovine serum albumin and rabbit serum,[4] at 34 °C under oxygen levels lower than that of normal atmospheric conditions, centrifuged at 8000 X g for 10 minutes, isolated using Qiagen DNA kit, and washed using dH2O.[2]
This genospecies has the potential to cause Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis).[1]
Genomics
The B. mayonii genome is about 1.31 megabase pairs (Mbp) with an average 26.9% GC (guanine and cytosine) content.[2] It has a linear chromosome with an additional 15 plasmids, eight linear and seven circular.[2] The genomes of the two isolates have similar plasmids seen in Borrelia burgdorferi. The MN14-1420 isolate have a vls locus, a specific position on a chromosome, consisting of 24 silent cassettes, a mobile gene that floats around.[2] B. burgdorferi has 15 silent cassettes with a vlsE expression site.[5] The vls locus with the vlsE site, as it is present in strain B. burgdorferi B31, encodes a lipoprotein, a fatty protein, that allows B. burgdorferi to infect various mammalian hosts.[5][6] B. mayonii may also use this locus as a mechanism of evading host immune system. However, the isolates lack various genomic regions seen in B. burgdorferi such as the region that codes for CspZ (complement inhibitor) and BB_K32 (fibronectin binding protein).[2]