Schwan T G, Hinnebusch B J
Laboratory of Microbial Structure and Function, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA.
Science. 1998 Jun 19;280(5371):1938-40. doi: 10.1126/science.280.5371.1938.
The relapsing fever spirochete, Borrelia hermsii, alternates infections between a mammal and a tick vector. Whether the spirochete changes phenotypically in the different hosts was examined by allowing the tick vector Ornithodoros hermsi to feed on mice infected with serotype 7 or serotype 8 of B. hermsii. Upon infection of ticks, the spirochetal serotype-specific variable major proteins (Vmps) 7 and 8 became undetectable and were replaced by Vmp33. This switch from a bloodstream- to tick-associated phenotype could be induced in culture by a decrease in temperature. After tick-bite transmission back to mice, the process was reversed and the spirochetes resumed expression of the same Vmp present in the previous infectious blood meal.
回归热螺旋体，赫氏疏螺旋体（Borrelia hermsii），在哺乳动物和蜱虫媒介之间交替感染。通过让蜱虫媒介赫氏钝缘蜱（Ornithodoros hermsi）吸食感染了赫氏疏螺旋体血清型7或血清型8的小鼠，来研究螺旋体在不同宿主中是否发生表型变化。蜱虫感染后，螺旋体血清型特异性可变主要蛋白（Vmps）7和8变得无法检测到，并被Vmp33取代。这种从血液相关表型到蜱虫相关表型的转变在培养中可通过温度降低来诱导。蜱虫叮咬传播回小鼠后，过程逆转，螺旋体恢复表达先前感染性血餐中存在的相同Vmp。
