1932

Abstract

The spirochetes in the sensu lato genospecies group cycle in nature between tick vectors and vertebrate hosts. The current assemblage of sensu lato, of which three species cause Lyme disease in humans, originated from a rapid species radiation that occurred near the origin of the clade. All of these species share a unique genome structure that is highly segmented and predominantly composed of linear replicons. One of the circular plasmids is a prophage that exists as several isoforms in each cell and can be transduced to other cells, likely contributing to an otherwise relatively anemic level of horizontal gene transfer, which nevertheless appears to be adequate to permit strong natural selection and adaptation in populations of . Although the molecular genetic toolbox is meager, several antibiotic-resistant mutants have been isolated, and the resistance alleles, as well as some exogenous genes, have been fashioned into markers to dissect gene function. Genetic studies have probed the role of the outer membrane lipoprotein OspC, which is maintained in nature by multiple niche polymorphisms and negative frequency-dependent selection. One of the most intriguing genetic systems in is recombination, which generates antigenic variation during infection of mammalian hosts.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-genet-011112-112140
2012-12-15
2024-12-10
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-genet-011112-112140
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-genet-011112-112140
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error