Response to Esteve-Gassent et al.: flaB sequences obtained from Texas PCR products are identical to the positive control strain Borrelia burgdorferi B31

Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Maria A. Diuk-Wasser¹  Durland Fish³  Alan G. Barbour⁴  Steven J. Norris² 

[1]Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, USA

[2]Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, 77225-0708, TX, USA

[3]Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, USA

[4]Departments of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Medicine, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, USA

关键词: Mexico;    Texas;    Ixodes scapularis;    Lyme disease;    Borrelia burgdorferi;   

Others  :  1224211
DOI  :  10.1186/s13071-015-0899-x

 received in 2015-03-21, accepted in 2015-05-15,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Feria-Arroyo et al. had reported previously that, based on PCR analysis, 45 % of Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in Texas and Mexico were infected with the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Parasit. Vectors 2014, 7:199). However, our analyses of their initial data (Parasit. Vectors 2014, 7:467) and a recent response by Esteve-Gassent et al. (Parasit. Vectors 2015, 8:129) provide evidence that the positive PCR results obtained from both ribosomal RNA intergenic sequences and the flagellin gene flaB are highly likely due to contamination by the B. burgdorferi B31 positive control strain.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Norris et al.

【 图 表 】

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【 参考文献 】

• [1]Feria-Arroyo T, Castro-Arellano I, Gordillo-Perez G, Cavazos A, Vargas-Sandoval M, Grover A et al.. Implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis and risk for Lyme disease in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region. Parasit Vectors. 2014; 7:199. BioMed Central Full Text
• [2]Norris SJ, Barbour AG, Fish D. Diuk-Wasser MA. Analysis of the intergenic sequences provided by Feria-Arroyo et al. does not support the claim of high Borrelia burgdorferi tick infection rates in Texas and northeastern Mexico. Parasit Vectors. 2014; 7:467.
• [3]Burgdorfer W, Barbour AG, Hayes SF, Benach JL, Grunwaldt E, Davis JP. Lyme disease, a tick-borne spirochetosis? Science. 1982; 216:1317-9.
• [4]Esteve-Gassent MD, Grover A, Feria-Arroyo TP, Castro-Arellano I, Medina RF, Gordillo-Perez G et al.. Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi-infected ticks from wildlife hosts, a response to Norris et al. Parasit Vectors. 2015; 8:129. BioMed Central Full Text
• [5]Kwok S, Higuchi R. Avoiding false positives with PCR. Nature. 1989; 339:237-8.