RESEARCH ARTICLE
How do Lyme Borrelia Organisms Cause Disease? The Quest for Virulence Determinants#
Steven J Norris*
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 6
Issue: Suppl 1
First Page: 119
Last Page: 123
Publisher ID: TONEUJ-6-119
DOI: 10.2174/1874205X01206010119
Article History:
Received Date: 28/4/2012Revision Received Date: 22/6/2012
Acceptance Date: 02/7/2012
Electronic publication date: 5/10/2012
Collection year: 2012

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
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.