How do Lyme Borrelia Organisms Cause Disease? The Quest for Virulence Determinants^#

Abstract

Lyme disease Borrelia are invasive, nontoxigenic, persistent pathogens, and little is known about their mechanisms of pathogenesis. In our laboratory, a signature-tagged mutagenesis (STM) library of over 4,000 Borrelia burgdorferi transposon mutants has been constructed and is being screened for infectivity in mice. In this manner, a global view of the virulence determinants (factors required for full infectivity) is being developed. Additionally, the mechanisms of immune evasion involving the VMP-like system (vls) are under analysis, and cryo-electron microscopy is providing a detailed view of the three-dimensional structure of B. burgdorferi. These approaches will contribute to the improved understanding of how Lyme disease Borrelia cause disease.