Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
Parasite Immunol. 2021 May;43(5):e12816. doi: 10.1111/pim.12816. Epub 2021 Jan 11.
The bacterial pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of Lyme disease and is transmitted to humans through an Ixodes tick vector. B. burgdorferi is able to survive in both mammalian and tick hosts through careful modulation of its gene expression. This allows B. burgdorferi to adapt to the environmental and nutritional changes that occur when it is transmitted between the two hosts. Distinct interactions between the spirochete and its host occur at every step of the enzootic cycle and dictate the ability of the spirochete to survive until the next stage of the cycle. Studying the interface between B. burgdorferi, the Ixodes tick vector and the natural mammalian reservoirs has been made significantly more feasible through the complete genome sequences of the organisms and the advent of high throughput screening technologies. Ultimately, a thorough investigation of the interplay between the two domains (and two phyla within one domain) is necessary in order to completely understand how the pathogen is transmitted.
细菌病原体伯氏疏螺旋体是莱姆病的病原体，通过伊蚊传播给人类。伯氏疏螺旋体能够通过精细调节其基因表达，在哺乳动物和蜱宿主中存活。这使伯氏疏螺旋体能够适应在两个宿主之间传播时发生的环境和营养变化。在整个地方病循环的每一步中，螺旋体与宿主之间都存在着独特的相互作用，并决定了螺旋体在进入下一个循环阶段之前的存活能力。通过对生物体的完整基因组序列和高通量筛选技术的应用，伯氏疏螺旋体、伊蚊传播媒介和天然哺乳动物宿主之间的界面研究变得更加可行。最终，为了完全了解病原体是如何传播的，有必要对这两个领域（以及一个领域内的两个门）之间的相互作用进行彻底的调查。
