ABSTRACT
This article reviews the natural history, taxonomy, physical structure, growth requirements,
and molecular structure of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the causative agent of
Lyme disease. These spirochetal bacteria are maintained in nature through an infectious
cycle between wild mammals and ticks. Borreliae are fastidious, slow-growing bacteria,
found only in association with their arthropod or mammalian hosts in nature, and propagatable
in the laboratory in a rich growth medium. The characteristic shape of borreliae is
imposed by periplasmic flagella, located beneath the outer membrane and attached to
the protoplasmic cylinder. The outer membrane of borreliae contains a number of abundant
lipoproteins that are of sero-diagnostic utility and currently under consideration
as vaccine targets. The borrelial genome is unique in structure, organization, and
copy number. Recent experiments demonstrate the feasibility of specific gene inactivation
as a means with which to study the biology of borreliae and the pathogenesis of Lyme
disease.
Keywords
Borrelia burgdorferi - Lyme disease spirochete - microbiology - growth - taxonomy
- structure - genome
