In Europe the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex is represented by five distinct genospecies: Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia valaisiana, and Borrelia lusitaniae. These taxonomic entities are known to differ in their specific associations with vertebrate hosts and to provoke distinct clinical manifestations in human patients. However, exceptions to these rules have often been observed, indicating that strains belonging to a single genospecies may be more heterogeneous than expected. It is, therefore, important to develop alternative identification tools which are able to distinguish Borrelia strains not only at the specific level but also at the intraspecific level. DNA from a sample of 370 Ixodes ricinus ticks collected in the Czech Republic was analyzed by PCR for the presence of a approximately 230-bp fragment of the rrfA-rrlB intergenic spacer of Borrelia spp. A total of 20.5% of the ticks were found to be positive. The infecting genospecies were identified by analyzing the amplified products by the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method with restriction enzyme MseI and by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. The two methods were compared, and PCR-SSCP analysis appeared to be a valuable tool for rapid identification of spirochetes at the intraspecific level, particularly when large samples are examined. Furthermore, by using PCR-SSCP analysis we identified a previously unknown Borrelia genotype, genotype I-77, which would have gone unnoticed if RFLP analysis alone had been used.

• MeSH
• Borrelia burgdorferi komplex klasifikace   genetika   MeSH
• DNA bakterií genetika   izolace a purifikace   MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• genetická variace * MeSH
• genotyp MeSH
• klíště mikrobiologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mezerníky ribozomální DNA genetika   MeSH
• molekulární sekvence - údaje MeSH
• polymerázová řetězová reakce metody   MeSH
• polymorfismus délky restrikčních fragmentů MeSH
• polymorfismus konformace jednovláknové DNA * MeSH
• sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
• techniky typizace bakterií MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• hodnotící studie MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• DNA bakterií MeSH
• mezerníky ribozomální DNA MeSH