Kawabata H, Masuzawa T, Yanagihara Y
Department of Microbiology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Japan.
Microbiol Immunol. 1993;37(11):843-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1993.tb01714.x.
Genetic characteristics of 12 Borrelia isolates from the tick, Ixodes ovatus, I. persulcatus, and the rodent, Apodemus speciosus ainu, in Japan were compared to members of the three genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato; B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii and group VS461. The methods used in this study were the quantitative microplate DNA hybridization assay and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses of the flagellin structural genes and the 16S rRNA genes. The six isolates from I. persulcatus and A. speciosus ainu were identified as genospecies B. garinii using RFLP analysis of the flagellin and 16S rRNA genes. In contrast, RFLP analysis of the six isolates from I. ovatus indicated that they were different from the three reported genospecies. DNA homology studies confirmed the RFLP results. The six isolates from I. ovatus had DNA homologies ranging from 85 to 99%, whereas DNA relatedness of the I. ovatus isolate with strains belonging to the three genospecies was 50 to 64%. These results suggest that the strains isolated from I. ovatus in Japan differ from the three genospecies and should be classified as a new genospecies of B. burgdorferi sensu lato. We propose that strains isolated from I. ovatus should be classified as B. japonica sp. nov.
将从日本的卵形硬蜱、全沟硬蜱以及鼠类日本姬鼠中分离出的12株疏螺旋体的遗传特征，与狭义伯氏疏螺旋体的三个基因种（狭义伯氏疏螺旋体、伽氏疏螺旋体和VS461组）的成员进行了比较。本研究采用的方法是定量微孔板DNA杂交试验以及鞭毛蛋白结构基因和16S rRNA基因的限制性片段长度多态性（RFLP）分析。利用鞭毛蛋白和16S rRNA基因的RFLP分析，将从全沟硬蜱和日本姬鼠中分离出的6株菌株鉴定为伽氏疏螺旋体基因种。相比之下，对从卵形硬蜱中分离出的6株菌株进行的RFLP分析表明，它们与已报道的三个基因种不同。DNA同源性研究证实了RFLP结果。从卵形硬蜱中分离出的6株菌株的DNA同源性在85%至99%之间，而卵形硬蜱分离株与属于三个基因种的菌株的DNA相关性为50%至64%。这些结果表明，从日本卵形硬蜱中分离出的菌株与三个基因种不同，应归类为狭义伯氏疏螺旋体的一个新基因种。我们建议将从卵形硬蜱中分离出的菌株归类为日本疏螺旋体新种（Borrelia japonica sp. nov.）。
