Species and Strains
Until recently, only three genospecies were thought to cause Lyme disease (borreliosis): B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (the predominant species in North America, but also present in Europe); B. afzelii; and B. garinii (both predominant in Eurasia). The complete genomes of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto strain B31, B. afzelii strain PKo and B. garinii strain PBi are known. B. burgdorferi strain B31 was derived by limited dilutional cloning from the original Lyme-disease tick isolate derived by Alan Barbour.
Read more about this topic: Lyme Disease Microbiology
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