ArticlePLoS pathogens2015
The Borrelia burgdorferi RelA/SpoT Homolog and Stringent Response Regulate Survival in the Tick Vector and Global Gene Expression during Starvation.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 71 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 101 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metabolic regulation of the carbonyl stress pathway and methylglyoxal in Lyme disease and relapsing fever spirochetes.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Riboflavin Salvage Supports Glycolysis in Borrelia burgdorferi Through Flavin-Dependent NADMolecular microbiology · 2026Article
- Dissection of amino acid acquisition pathways demonstrates that amino acid starvation of Borrelia burgdorferi results in a (p)ppGpp-independent maladaptive response.Communications biology · 2025Article
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- Analysis of the BadR regulon in Borrelia burgdorferi.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- MCP5, a methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein regulated by both the Hk1-Rrp1 and Rrp2-RpoN-RpoS pathways, is required for the immune evasion of Borrelia burgdorferi.PLoS pathogens · 2024Article
- Article
- Hitchhiker's Guide toJournal of bacteriology · 2024Review
- Positive feedback regulation between RpoS and BosR in the Lyme disease pathogen.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Development and validation of systems for genetic manipulation of the Old World tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete, Borrelia duttonii.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- c-di-GMP regulates activity of the PlzA RNA chaperone from the Lyme disease spirochete.Molecular microbiology · 2023Article
- Pleomorphic Variants ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Riboflavin salvage by Borrelia burgdorferi supports carbon metabolism and is essential for survival in the tick vector.Molecular microbiology · 2022Article
- Review
- The Consistent Tick-Vertebrate Infectious Cycle of the Lyme Disease Spirochete Enables Borrelia burgdorferi To Control Protein Expression by Monitoring Its Physiological Status.Journal of bacteriology · 2022Review
- The glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenases GpsA and GlpD constitute the oxidoreductive metabolic linchpin for Lyme disease spirochete host infectivity and persistence in the tick.PLoS pathogens · 2022Article
- Potential Regulatory Role in Mammalian Host Adaptation for a Small Intergenic Region of Lp17 in the Lyme Disease Spirochete.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Article
- Many birds with one stone: targeting the (p)ppGpp signaling pathway of bacteria to improve antimicrobial therapy.Biophysical reviews · 2021Review
- BB0562 is a nutritional virulence determinant with lipase activity important for Borrelia burgdorferi infection and survival in fatty acid deficient environments.PLoS pathogens · 2021Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
As the Lyme disease bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi traverses its enzootic cycle, alternating between a tick vector and a vertebrate host, the spirochete must adapt and persist in the tick midgut under prolonged nutrient stress between blood meals. In this study, we examined the role of the stringent response in tick persistence and in regulation of gene expression during nutrient limitation. Nutritionally starving B. burgdorferi in vitro increased the levels of guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp) and guanosine pentaphosphate (pppGpp), collectively referred to as (p)ppGpp, products of the bifunctional synthetase/hydrolase RelBbu (RelA/SpoT homolog). Conversely, returning B. burgdorferi to a nutrient-rich medium decreased (p)ppGpp levels. B. burgdorferi survival in ticks between the larval and nymph blood meals, and during starvation in vitro, was dependent on RelBbu. Furthermore, normal morphological conversion from a flat-wave shape to a condensed round body (RB) form during starvation was dependent on RelBbu; relBbu mutants more frequently formed RBs, but their membranes were compromised. By differential RNA sequencing analyses, we found that RelBbu regulates an extensive transcriptome, both dependent and independent of nutrient stress. The RelBbu regulon includes the glp operon, which is important for glycerol utilization and persistence in the tick, virulence factors and the late phage operon of the 32-kb circular plasmid (cp32) family. In summary, our data suggest that RelBbu globally modulates transcription in response to nutrient stress by increasing (p)ppGpp levels to facilitate B. burgdorferi persistence in the tick.
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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.