PROTEINS BINDING TO THE PROMOTER REGION OF THE OPERON ENCODING THE MAJOR OUTER SURFACE-PROTEINS OSPA AND OSPB OF BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI

The synthesis of the major outer surface proteins OspA and OspB in Bor relia burgdorferi varies among strains and during in vitro cultivation . We examined B. burgdorferi CA-11.2A for the presence of proteins tha t bind to the ospAB operon promoter region. Three major DNA-protein co mplexes were detected using a mobility shift assay; one of these compl exes was due to sequence-specific binding. These proteins may be invol ved in the regulation of ospAB transcription and the pathogenesis of L yme disease.