Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25987708›Full record

ArticleInfection and immunity2015

Cyclic di-GMP modulates gene expression in Lyme disease spirochetes at the tick-mammal interface to promote spirochete survival during the blood meal and tick-to-mammal transmission.

Melissa J Caimano, Star Dunham-Ems, Anna M Allard, Maria B Cassera, Melisha Kenedy, Justin D Radolf

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Infection and immunity, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
68citing papers in PubMed
8.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

68 citing papers in PubMed, 90 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  5. Journal of bacteriology · 2025
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  19. iScience · 2022
    Article
  20. Review

8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Melissa J CaimanoDepartment of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA mcaima@uchc.edu.
Star Dunham-EmsDepartment of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA.
Anna M AllardDepartment of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA.
Maria B CasseraDepartment of Biochemistry and Center for Drug Discovery, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
Melisha KenedyDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
Justin D RadolfDepartment of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA Department of Immunology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA.
UConn Health · USUniversity of Oklahoma · USVirginia Tech · US

Funding

Proteomics CoreP20GM103447 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HLTH SCIENCES CTR · PI DARRIN R. AKINS · 2012 to 2026
$60.2M
RpoS Regulation of Borrelia burgdorferi Genes in vivoR01AI029735 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SW MED CTR/DALLAS · PI CAIMANO, MELISSA J, RADOLF, JUSTIN D · 1990 to 2022
$10.7M
RpoS Regulation of Borrelia burgdorferi Genes in vivoR56AI029735 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT · PI RADOLF, JUSTIN D · 2012 to 2012
$536k
Transit of Borrelia burgdorferi through the Ixodes scapularis midgut proceeds inR03AI085248 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT · PI CAIMANO, MELISSA J · 2010 to 2011
$153k
NIAID NIH HHS AI-29735NIAID NIH HHS AI-85248NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI029735NIAID NIH HHS R03 AI085248NIAID NIH HHS R56 AI029735NIGMS NIH HHS GM103447NIGMS NIH HHS P20 GM103447
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete, couples environmental sensing and gene regulation primarily via the Hk1/Rrp1 two-component system (TCS) and Rrp2/RpoN/RpoS pathways. Beginning with acquisition, we reevaluated the contribution of these pathways to spirochete survival and gene regulation throughout the enzootic cycle. Live imaging of B. burgdorferi caught in the act of being acquired revealed that the absence of RpoS and the consequent derepression of tick-phase genes impart a Stay signal required for midgut colonization. In addition to the behavioral changes brought on by the RpoS-off state, acquisition requires activation of cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) synthesis by the Hk1/Rrp1 TCS; B. burgdorferi lacking either component is destroyed during the blood meal. Prior studies attributed this dramatic phenotype to a metabolic lesion stemming from reduced glycerol uptake and utilization. In a head-to-head comparison, however, the B. burgdorferi Δglp mutant had a markedly greater capacity to survive tick feeding than B. burgdorferi Δhk1 or Δrrp1 mutants, establishing unequivocally that glycerol metabolism is only one component of the protection afforded by c-di-GMP. Data presented herein suggest that the protective response mediated by c-di-GMP is multifactorial, involving chemotactic responses, utilization of alternate substrates for energy generation and intermediary metabolism, and remodeling of the cell envelope as a means of defending spirochetes against threats engendered during the blood meal. Expression profiling of c-di-GMP-regulated genes through the enzootic cycle supports our contention that the Hk1/Rrp1 TCS functions primarily, if not exclusively, in ticks. These data also raise the possibility that c-di-GMP enhances the expression of a subset of RpoS-dependent genes during nymphal transmission.

Indexed as

Gene Expression Regulation, BacterialAnimalsBacterial ProteinsBorrelia burgdorferiCyclic GMPFemaleHumansLyme DiseaseMiceMice, Inbred C3HMicrobial ViabilityRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyTicksBacterial Proteinsbis(3',5')-cyclic diguanylic acidCyclic GMP

Identifiers

PMID25987708
PMCPMC4496621
OpenAlexW1897572360

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.