Antigenic variation with a twist--the Borrelia story.

Studies in Borreliae II. Some Immunologic, Biochemical and Physical Properties of the Antigenic Components of Borrelia turicatae

Potentially conflicting selective forces that shape the vls antigenic variation system in Borrelia burgdorferi.

Changing environmental conditions present an evolutionary challenge for all organisms. The environment of microbial pathogens, including the adaptive immune responses of the infected host, changes rapidly and is lethal to the pathogen lineages that cannot quickly adapt. The dynamic immune environment creates strong selective pressures favoring microbial pathogen lineages with antigenic variatio...

Antigenic variation in vector-borne pathogens.

Several pathogens of humans and domestic animals depend on hematophagous arthropods to transmit them from one vertebrate reservoir host to another and maintain them in an environment. These pathogens use antigenic variation to prolong their circulation in the blood and thus increase the likelihood of transmission. By convergent evolution, bacterial and protozoal vector-borne pathogens have acqu...

Correlation between antigenicity and variability in the vls antigenic variation system of Borrelia burgdorferi.

Many parasites have evolved antigenic variation systems that alter surface proteins in order to evade recognition by presently expressed antibodies and subsequent death. Although the amino acid positions in antigens to which antibodies most commonly target are expected to be the most variable, this assumption has not been investigated. Using the vls antigenic variation system of Borrelia burgdo...

Borrelia burgdorferi vlsE antigenic variation is not mediated by RecA.

RecA is a key protein linking genetic recombination to DNA replication and repair in bacteria. Previous functional characterization of Borrelia burgdorferi RecA indicated that the protein is mainly involved in genetic recombination rather than DNA repair. Genetic recombination may play a role in B. burgdorferi persistence by generation of antigenic variation. We report here the isolation of a r...