ArticleParasites & vectors2017
Closely-related Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu stricto) strains exhibit similar fitness in single infections and asymmetric competition in multiple infections.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
What it found
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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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Comparative reservoir competence ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2024Article
- Meta-analysis of tick-borne and other pathogens: Co-infection or co-detection? That is the question.Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2024Review
- Tick-to-host transmission differs betweenMicrobiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Variation among strains of Borrelia burgdorferi in host tissue abundance and lifetime transmission determine the population strain structure in nature.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Borrelia burgdorferi strain and host sex influence pathogen prevalence and abundance in the tissues of a laboratory rodent host.Molecular ecology · 2022Article
- Both Coinfection and Superinfection Drive Complex Anaplasma marginale Strain Structure in a Natural Transmission Setting.Infection and immunity · 2021Article
- Host tropism determination by convergent evolution of immunological evasion in the Lyme disease system.PLoS pathogens · 2021Article
- Lyme Neuroborreliosis: Mechanisms ofBrain sciences · 2021Review
- Within-host priority effects and epidemic timing determine outbreak severity in co-infected populations.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Maternal Antibodies Provide Bank Voles with Strain-Specific Protection against Infection by the Lyme Disease Pathogen.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2019Article
- Molecular Testing of Serial Blood Specimens from Patients with Early Lyme Disease during Treatment Reveals Changing Coinfection with Mixtures of Borrelia burgdorferi Genotypes.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2019Article
- A Genomic Approach To Identify Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii Strains with Enhanced Competitive Fitness in the Lungs during Multistrain Pneumonia.Infection and immunity · 2019Article
- Outer surface protein polymorphisms linked to host-spirochete association in Lyme borreliae.Molecular microbiology · 2019Review
- Competition Between Strains ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2019Article
- Competition between strains ofProceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Brave New Worlds: The Expanding Universe of Lyme Disease.Vector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.) · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWild hosts are commonly co-infected with complex, genetically diverse, pathogen communities. Competition is expected between genetically or ecologically similar pathogen strains which may influence patterns of coexistence. However, there is little data on how specific strains of these diverse pathogen species interact within the host and how this impacts pathogen persistence in nature. Ticks are the most common disease vector in temperate regions with Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, being the most common vector-borne pathogen in North America. Borrelia burgdorferi is a pathogen of high public health concern and there is significant variation in infection phenotype between strains, which influences predictions of pathogen dynamics and spread.
methodsIn a laboratory experiment, we investigated whether two closely-related strains of B. burgdorferi (sensu stricto) showed similar transmission phenotypes, how the transmission of these strains changed when a host was infected with one strain, re-infected with the same strain, or co-infected with two strains. Ixodes scapularis, the black-legged tick, nymphs were used to sequentially infect laboratory-bred Peromyscus leucopus, white-footed mice, with one strain only, homologous infection with the same stain, or heterologous infection with both strains. We used the results of this laboratory experiment to simulate long-term persistence and maintenance of each strain in a simple simulation model.
resultsStrain LG734 was more competitive than BL206, showing no difference in transmission between the heterologous infection groups and single-infection controls, while strain BL206 transmission was significantly reduced when strain LG734 infected first. The results of the model show that this asymmetry in competition could lead to extinction of strain BL206 unless there was a tick-to-host transmission advantage to this less competitive strain.
conclusionsThis asymmetric competitive interaction suggests that strain identity and the biotic context of co-infection is important to predict strain dynamics and persistence.
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