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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Detecting the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, in Ticks Using Nested PCR
Published on: February 4, 2018
Lack of detectable variation at Borrelia burgdorferi vlsE locus in ticks
Leanna K Nosbisch1, Aravinda M de Silva
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Abstract:
VlsE is a surface exposed lipoprotein of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. Spirochetes are able to generate many antigenic variants of VlsE by DNA recombination at the vlsE locus. Novel VlsE antigenic variants are readily observed in mice infected with B. burgdorferi. We followed a clonal population of spirochetes through a tick transmission cycle and report that unlike in vertebrates, the vlsE locus is stable in ticks.
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