Multilocus Sequence Analysis of “Atypical” Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato Isolated in Russia

Abstract

Seventeen isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato with an unclear genetic characteristic isolated in Russia from various species of Ixodes ticks (I. persulcatus, I. ricinus, and I. pavlovskyi) have been studied by multilocus sequencing analysis. According to the results of typing, these isolates were identified as B. bavariensis (n = 7), B. garinii (n = 6), B. finlandensis (n = 3), and B. spielmanii (n = 1), that is, species that can cause ixodid tick-borne borreliosis diseases in human beings. The allelic polymorphism of five genes (rrs, fla, groEL, recA, and ospA) and spacer rrfA–rrlB of B. bavariensis and B. garinii isolates was analyzed in comparison with their diversity in the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration.