This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Stewart, P. E. Articles by Rosa, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Stewart, P. E. Articles by Rosa, P.

Conservation of Plasmid Maintenance Functions between Linear and Circular Plasmids in Borrelia burgdorferi

Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840,¹ Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada²

Received 14 August 2002/ Accepted 3 March 2003

The Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi maintains both linear and circular plasmids that appear to be essential for mammalian infection. Recent studies have characterized the circular plasmid regions that confer autonomous replication, but the genetic elements necessary for linear plasmid maintenance have not been experimentally identified. Two vectors derived from linear plasmids lp25 and lp28-1 were constructed and shown to replicate autonomously in B. burgdorferi. These vectors identify internal regions of linear plasmids necessary for autonomous replication in B. burgdorferi. Although derived from linear plasmids, the vectors are maintained in circular form in B. burgdorferi, indicating that plasmid maintenance functions are conserved, regardless of DNA form. Finally, derivatives of these vectors indicate that paralogous gene family 49 is apparently not required for either circular or linear plasmid replication.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Deneke, J., Chaconas, G. (2008). Purification and Properties of the Plasmid Maintenance Proteins from the Borrelia burgdorferi Linear Plasmid lp17. J. Bacteriol. 190: 3992-4000 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Grimm, D., Eggers, C. H., Caimano, M. J., Tilly, K., Stewart, P. E., Elias, A. F., Radolf, J. D., Rosa, P. A. (2004). Experimental Assessment of the Roles of Linear Plasmids lp25 and lp28-1 of Borrelia burgdorferi throughout the Infectious Cycle. Infect. Immun. 72: 5938-5946 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Byram, R., Stewart, P. E., Rosa, P. (2004). The Essential Nature of the Ubiquitous 26-Kilobase Circular Replicon of Borrelia burgdorferi. J. Bacteriol. 186: 3561-3569 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Frank, K. L., Bundle, S. F., Kresge, M. E., Eggers, C. H., Samuels, D. S. (2003). aadA Confers Streptomycin Resistance in Borrelia burgdorferi. J. Bacteriol. 185: 6723-6727 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ravin, N. V., Kuprianov, V. V., Gilcrease, E. B., Casjens, S. R. (2003). Bidirectional replication from an internal ori site of the linear N15 plasmid prophage. Nucleic Acids Res 31: 6552-6560 [Abstract] [Full Text]