The proposed project is designed to gain insight to the interactions and associations between Borrelia pathogens and their respective zoonotic vertebrate reservoirs and arthropod vectors. To fully characterize the structure of natural populations of B. burgdorferi, it is necessary to sample isolates from the various levels of its organization to determine the temporal, geographic, and host environmental factors which determine the distribution and exchangeability among B. burgdorferi isolates. Thes geographic requirements of this sampling are met by the use of coastal islands, which have been chosen for the unique qualities that make them ideal natural laboratories for tracking the ecological dynamics of emerging disease. The temporal sampling of these two sites is accomplished both longitudinally (by sampling each islands bi- annually for each year of the study), and by cross-sectional sampling of the tick cohorts in non-overlapping annual cycle. The relationship between the host environments can be tested directly, since the Borrelia isolates are collected directly from their hostsj. The multi-locus genotypes of all mice, ticks, and Borrelia isolates from each island site (and at each time point) will be determined, thus providing a rich resource for evaluating the structure of their respective populations, and the interactions among these species.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM060759-04
Application #
6630456
Study Section
Genetics Study Section (GEN)
Program Officer
Eckstrand, Irene A
Project Start
2000-08-01
Project End
2005-07-31
Budget Start
2003-08-01
Budget End
2004-07-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$208,750
Indirect Cost
Name
Tufts University
Department
Veterinary Sciences
Type
Schools of Veterinary Medicine
DUNS #
039318308
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02111
Xu, Guang; Wesker, Jaime; White, Caitlin et al. (2013) Detection of heterogeneity of Borrelia burgdorferi in ixodes ticks by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. J Clin Microbiol 51:615-7
Rich, Stephen M; Leendertz, Fabian H; Xu, Guang et al. (2009) The origin of malignant malaria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106:14902-7
Walk, Seth T; Xu, Guang; Stull, Jason W et al. (2009) Correlation between tick density and pathogen endemicity, New Hampshire. Emerg Infect Dis 15:585-7
Burke, William D; Malik, Harmit S; Rich, Stephen M et al. (2002) Ancient lineages of non-LTR retrotransposons in the primitive eukaryote, Giardia lamblia. Mol Biol Evol 19:619-30