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Aug 28, 2023

Highly virulent and infectious Lyme disease s

PLOS image: Dark field microscopy of Borrelia burgdorferi view more Credit: Jacob Lemieux, CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Highly virulent and infectious Lyme disease strain,

PLOS

image: Dark field microscopy of Borrelia burgdorferi view more

Credit: Jacob Lemieux, CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Highly virulent and infectious Lyme disease strain, Borrelia burgdorferi OspC type A genotype, has specific genetic elements which could provide clues to its spread.

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Article URL: http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1011243

Article Title: Whole genome sequencing of human Borrelia burgdorferi isolates reveals linked blocks of accessory genome elements located on plasmids and associated with human dissemination

Author Countries: Slovenia, US

Funding: This work was supported by a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Physician Scientist Fellowship (2019123 to J.E.L), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (K99/R00148604 to J.E.L, U19AI110818 and U01 AI151812 to P.C.S.; R01AI045801 to I.S., and R21AI144916 to K.S.), the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R01AR41511 to I.S. and K01AR062098 to K.S.), the Bay Area Lyme Foundation (to P.C.S. and J.E.L.), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (P.C.S.), the Arthritis Foundation Fellowship (to K.S.), the Wadsworth Center startup funds (to K.S.), and the Slovenian Research Agency (P3-0296, J3-1744, and J3-8195 to F.S.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

PLoS Pathogens

10.1371/journal.ppat.1011243

Whole genome sequencing of human Borrelia burgdorferi isolates reveals linked blocks of accessory genome elements located on plasmids and associated with human dissemination

31-Aug-2023

P.C.S. is a co-founder of, shareholder in, and consultant to Sherlock Biosciences and Delve Bio, as well as a board member of and shareholder in Danaher Corporation. K.S. served as a consultant for T2 Biosystems, Roche, BioMerieux, and NYS Biodefense Fund, for the development of a diagnostic assay in Lyme borreliosis, and is currently employed at Takeda. F.S. served on the scientific advisory board for Roche on Lyme disease serological diagnostics and on the scientific advisory board for Pfizer on Lyme disease vaccine, and is an unpaid member of the steering committee of the ESCMID Study Group on Lyme Borreliosis/ESGBOR. J.A.B. has received research funding from Analog Devices Inc., Zeus Scientific, Immunetics, Pfizer, DiaSorin and bioMerieux, and has been a paid consultant to T2 Biosystems, DiaSorin, and Roche Diagnostics. G.P.W. reports receiving research grants from Institute for Systems Biology, Biopeptides, Corp., and Pfizer, Inc. He has been an expert witness in malpractice cases involving Lyme disease and babesiosis; and is an unpaid board member of the non-profit American Lyme Disease Foundation. J.E.L previously served as a consultant to Sherlock Biosciences.

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