ArticleNature microbiology2021
The unusual cell wall of the Lyme disease spirochaete Borrelia burgdorferi is shaped by a tick sugar.
Article in Nature microbiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transposon insertion sequencing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa identifies multiple intersecting pathways essential for extreme colistin resistance.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Review
- YpeB stability affects germination possibly through delaying SleB activity inJournal of bacteriology · 2026Article
- Machine learning-driven identification of virulence determinants in Borrelia burgdorferi associated with human dissemination.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Disruption of chitin synthases impairs tick feeding and reproduction, validating a broad-spectrum acaricide target.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Role of dual specificity phosphatase 1 in influencing inflammatory pathways in macrophages modulated byFrontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Peptidoglycan architecture dictates protein interactions, tissue tropism, and arthritis in the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- MutantMicrobiology spectrum · 2025Article
- Role of Dual Specificity Phosphatase 1 (DUSP1) in influencing inflammatory pathways in macrophages modulated bybioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Bacterial and host enzymes modulate the pro-inflammatory response elicited by the peptidoglycan of Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- The peptidoglycan ofScience translational medicine · 2025Article
- A high-resolution screen identifies a preexisting beta-lactam that specifically treats Lyme disease in mice.Science translational medicine · 2025Article
- Lyme Prosthetic Joint Infection May Be Underappreciated and Can Be Treated Without Surgery: A Case Report.JBJS case connector · 2025Article
- Borrelia PeptideAtlas: A proteome resource of common Borrelia burgdorferi isolates for Lyme research.Scientific data · 2024Article
- Identification of a family of peptidoglycan transpeptidases reveals thatProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Post-transcriptional control of the essential enzyme MurF by a small regulatory RNA in Brucella abortus.Molecular microbiology · 2024Article
- Current and emerging approaches for eliminatingFrontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
- A metalloprotease secreted by an environmentally acquired gut bacterium hindersFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- Pathogenicity and virulence ofVirulence · 2023Review
- Insight Into the Dynamics of the Ixodes ricinus Nymphal Midgut Proteome.Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Peptidoglycan-a mesh sac of glycans that are linked by peptides-is the main component of bacterial cell walls. Peptidoglycan provides structural strength, protects cells from osmotic pressure and contributes to shape. All bacterial glycans are repeating disaccharides of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) β-(1-4)-linked to N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc). Borrelia burgdorferi, the tick-borne Lyme disease pathogen, produces glycan chains in which MurNAc is occasionally replaced with an unknown sugar. Nuclear magnetic resonance, liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy and genetic analyses show that B. burgdorferi produces glycans that contain GlcNAc-GlcNAc. This unusual disaccharide is chitobiose, a component of its chitinous tick vector. Mutant bacteria that are auxotrophic for chitobiose have altered morphology, reduced motility and cell envelope defects that probably result from producing peptidoglycan that is stiffer than that in wild-type bacteria. We propose that the peptidoglycan of B. burgdorferi probably evolved by adaptation to obligate parasitization of a tick vector, resulting in a biophysical cell-wall alteration to withstand the atypical torque associated with twisting motility.
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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.