ISOLATION OF BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI FROM SALIVA OF THE TICK VECTOR, IXODES-SCAPULARIS

A method for cultivating and isolating Lyme disease spirochetes, Borre lia burgdorferi, from the saliva of vector ticks, Ixodes scapularis (f ormerly known as Ixodes dammini), is described. Saliva was collected f rom partially engorged ticks after application of pilocarpine to induc e salivation. B. burgdorferi was isolated from 8 of 14 (57%) of the Sa liva samples derived from ticks infected,vith the bacteria, as determi ned by direct immunofluorescent-antibody assay of tick hemolymph. A co mparison of the protein profiles of the salivary isolates and a highly passaged strain (B31) showed that the salivary isolates all lacked a 22-kDa protein known to increase with continuous passage, but exhibite d larger amounts of the OspA and OspB proteins than did the highly pas saged B31 strain.