ArticleBMC ecology and evolution2021
The evolution of hard tick-borne relapsing fever borreliae is correlated with vector species rather than geographical distance.
Article in BMC ecology and evolution, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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12 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Distribution and Genetic Diversity ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Antigenic variation is caused by long plasmid segment conversion in a hard tick-borne relapsing fever Borrelia miyamotoi.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- A distinct Borrelia clade within the relapsing fever group from cat-infesting Haemaphysalis semermis Neumann 1901 (Acari: Ixodidae).Veterinary research communications · 2024Article
- Combining short- and long-read sequencing unveils geographically structured diversity iniScience · 2024Article
- Characterisation and comparative genomics of three new Varanus-associated Borrelia spp. from Indonesia and Australia.Parasites & vectors · 2023Article
- HumanPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Review
- Development and Validation of a Protein Array for Detection of Antibodies against the Tick-Borne Pathogen Borrelia miyamotoi.Microbiology spectrum · 2022Article
- Metatranscriptomic profiling reveals diverse tick-borne bacteria, protozoans and viruses in ticks and wildlife from Australia.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2022Article
- Molecular Characterization of a Novel Relapsing Fever Borrelia Species from the Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) in New Mexico, USA.Journal of wildlife diseases · 2022Article
- Co-infections with multiple pathogens in natural populations of Ixodes persulcatus ticks in Mongolia.Parasites & vectors · 2022Article
- Review
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRelapsing fever (RF) borreliae are arthropod-borne spirochetes and some of them cause human diseases, which are characterized by relapsing or recurring episodes of fever. Recently, it has been classified into two groups: soft tick-borne RF (STRF) borreliae and hard tick-borne RF (HTRF) borreliae. STRF borreliae include classical RF agents and HTRF borreliae, the latter of which include B. miyamotoi, a human pathogen recently identified in Eurasia and North America.
resultsIn this study, we determined the genome sequences of 16 HTRF borreliae strains: 15 B. miyamotoi strains (9 from Hokkaido Island, Japan, 3 from Honshu Island, Japan, and 3 from Mongolia) and a Borrelia sp. tHM16w. Chromosomal gene synteny was highly conserved among the HTRF strains sequenced in this study, even though they were isolated from different geographic regions and different tick species. Phylogenetic analysis based on core gene sequences revealed that HTRF and STRF borreliae are clearly distinguishable, with each forming a monophyletic group in the RF borreliae lineage. Moreover, the evolutionary relationships of RF borreliae are consistent with the biological and ecological features of each RF borreliae sublineage and can explain the unique characteristics of Borrelia anserina. In addition, the pairwise genetic distances between HTRF borreliae strains were well correlated with those of vector species rather than with the geographical distances between strain isolation sites. This result suggests that the genetic diversification of HTRF borreliae is attributed to the speciation of vector ticks and that this relationship might be required for efficient transmission of HTRF borreliae within vector ticks.
conclusionsThe results of the present study, together with those from previous investigations, support the hypothesis that the common ancestor of borreliae was transmitted by hard-bodied ticks and that only STRF borreliae switched to using soft-bodied ticks as a vector, which was followed by the emergence of Borrelia recurrentis, lice-borne RF borreliae. Our study clarifies the phylogenetic relationships between RF borreliae, and the data obtained will contribute to a better understanding of the evolutionary history of RF borreliae.
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