Open AccessCharacterization of cp18, a naturally truncated member of the cp32 family of Borrelia burgdorferi plasmids
Author(s) -
Brian Stevenson,
Sherwood Casjens,
R. van Vugt,
Stephen F. Porcella,
Kit Tilly,
James L. Bono,
Patricia A. Rosa
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.652
H-Index - 246
eISSN - 1067-8832
pISSN - 0021-9193
DOI - 10.1128/jb.179.13.4285-4291.1997
Subject(s) - plasmid , biology , borrelia burgdorferi , t dna binary system , genetics , restriction map , microbiology and biotechnology , recombinant dna , gene , borrelia , restriction site , plasmid preparation , restriction enzyme , vector (molecular biology) , pbr322 , antibody
We have mapped the genes encoding the antigenic lipoproteins OspE and OspF to an approximately 18-kb circular plasmid in Borrelia burgdorferi N40. Sequencing and restriction mapping have revealed that this plasmid, cp18, is homologous to an 18-kb region of the cp32 circular plasmids found in the Lyme disease spirochetes. Our data show that cp18 may have arisen from an ancestral cp32 plasmid by deletion of a 14-kb region of DNA, indicating that a significant portion of the cp32 plasmid is not essential in cis for plasmid maintenance. These findings suggest that a relatively small recombinant plasmid capable of being stably maintained in B. burgdorferi could be constructed from a cp32 plasmid.