Bloodstream- Versus Tick-Associated Variants of a Relapsing Fever Bacterium

Abstract excerpt

The relapsing fever spirochete, Borrelia hermsii, alternates infections between a mammal and a tick vector. Whether the spirochete changes phenotypically in the different hosts was examined by allowing the tick vector Ornithodoros hermsi to feed on mice infected with serotype 7 or serotype 8 of B. hermsii. Upon infection of ticks, the spirochetal serotype-specific variable major proteins (Vmps) 7 and 8 became...