Abstract
Different genotypes of the agent of Lyme disease in North America, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, show varying degrees of pathogenicity in humans. This variation in pathogenicity correlates with phylogeny and we have hypothesized that the different phylogenetic lineages in North America reflect adaptation to different host species. In this study, evidence for host species associations of B. burgdorferi genotypes was investigated using 41 B. burgdorferi-positive samples from five mammal species and 50 samples from host-seeking ticks collected during the course of field studies in four regions of Canada: Manitoba, northwestern Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. The B. burgdorferi genotypes in the samples were characterized using three established molecular markers (multi-locus sequence typing [MLST], 16S-23S rrs-rrlA intergenic spacer, and outer surface protein C sequence [ospC] major groups). Correspondence analysis and generalized linear mixed effect models revealed significant associations between B. burgdorferi genotypes and host species (in particular chipmunks, and white-footed mice and deer mice), supporting the hypotheses that host adaptation contributes to the phylogenetic structure and possibly the observed variation in pathogenicity in humans.
Highlights
In North America, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto is a member of the bacterial genospecies complex B. burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) that is associated with Lyme disease [1]
With the exception of the analysis of host species richness, in these and subsequent analyses we considered that sequence type (ST) in questing ticks as well as STs obtained from hosts as comprising different ‘ecological sources’ of B. burgdorferi genotypes
Of the samples collected at the study sites, 437 were analyzed by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), ospC, intergenic spacer (IGS)
Summary
In North America, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (hereafter termed B. burgdorferi for simplicity) is a member of the bacterial genospecies complex B. burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) that is associated with Lyme disease [1]. In Eurasia, five genospecies of the B. burgdorferi s.l. complex are associated with Lyme disease [1]: B. burgdorferi, B. afzelii, B. garinii, B. bavariensis and B. spielmanii and the two main tick vectors are Ixodes ricinus (in Europe) and I. persulcatus In North America, B. burgdorferi is mostly transmitted by two tick species: I. scapularis in the regions encompassing northeastern USA and southeastern Canada, and the PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0149345. Host-Genotype Associations of Borrelia burgdorferi upper Midwest USA and south central Canada, and I. pacificus in the western coastal states of the USA and in British Columbia, Canada. In Eurasia, the different B. burgdorferi s.l. genospecies are associated with different types of clinical disease [4].
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