Sequence typing reveals extensive strain diversity of the Lyme borreliosis agents Borrelia burgdorferi in North America and Borrelia afzelii in Europe
Bunikis J, Garpmo U, Tsao J, Berglund J, Fish D, Barbour A. Sequence typing reveals extensive strain diversity of the Lyme borreliosis agents Borrelia burgdorferi in North America and Borrelia afzelii in Europe. Microbiology 2004, 150: 1741-1755. PMID: 15184561, DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.26944-0.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsIntergenic spacerGenetic diversityIGS locusIGS genotypesOspC allelesHigh nucleotide diversityDistinct clonal lineagesGreater genetic diversityB. burgdorferiNorth-eastern United StatesTick vector Ixodes scapularisNucleotide diversityMonophyletic lineageSignature nucleotidesPhylogenetic studiesLinkage groupsIGS sequencesPhylogenetic inferenceIntragenic recombinationExtensive strain diversityDetectable recombinationVector Ixodes scapularisClonal lineagesField sitesLoci