Multilocus sequence analysis of Borrelia bissettii strains from North America reveals a new Borrelia species, Borrelia kurtenbachii

摘要: Using multilocus sequence analyses (MLSA), we investigated the phylogenetic relationship of spirochaete strains from North America previously assigned to genospecies Borrelia bissettii. We amplified internal fragments 8 housekeeping genes (clpA, clpX, nifS, pepX, pyrG, recG, rplB, and uvrA) located on main linear chromosome by polymerase chain reaction. Phylogenetic analysis concatenated sequences loci showed that B. bissettii clade consisted 4 closely related clusters which included California (including type strain DN127-Cl9-2/p7) Colorado were isolated Ixodes pacificus, I. spinipalpis, or infected reservoir hosts. Several scapularis clustered distantly Genetic distance confirmed these are more distant than they carolinensis, a recently described species, suggests constitute new genospecies. propose it be named kurtenbachii sp. nov. in honour late Klaus Kurtenbach. The data suggest ecological differences between reflect different transmission cycles. In view findings, distinct vertebrate host-tick vector associations distributions require further investigation.