Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Bacteriology
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Publication Date
10-1994
Volume
176
Issue
19
Disciplines
Biology | Life Sciences
Abstract
No useful method to genetically manipulate Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, has been developed previously. We have used resistance to the coumarin antibiotic coumermycin A1, an inhibitor of DNA gyrase, as a genetic marker to monitor the transformation of B. burgdorferi by electroporation. Introduction of site-directed mutations into the gyrB gene demonstrated that transformation was successful, provided evidence that homologous recombination occurs on the chromosome, and established that mutations at Arg-133 of DNA gyrase B confer coumermycin A1 resistance in B. burgdorferi. The coumermycin A1-resistant gyrB marker and genetic transformation can now be applied toward dissecting the physiology and pathogenesis of the Lyme disease agent on a molecular genetic level.
DOI
0021-9193/94
Rights
Copyright 1994, American Society for Microbiology
Recommended Citation
Samuels, D. Scott; Mach, Kathleen E.; and Garon, Claude F., "Genetic Transformation of the Lyme Disease Agent Borrelia Burgdorferi with Coumarin-Resistant gyrB." (1994). Biological Sciences Faculty Publications. 328.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/biosci_pubs/328