CHARACTERIZATION OF A CHROMOSOMAL GENE AND THE ANTIGEN IT EXPRESSES FROM THE LYME-DISEASE AGENT, BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI

The sequence and characterization of a chromosomal gene from the Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi and the antigen it encodes are desc ribed. The gene was cloned and expressed in transformed Escherichia co li cells. The gene is composed of 597 bases and expresses a predicted protein of 1'' amino acids. Antibodies specific for the recombinant an tigen reacted with a single B. burgdorferi protein with a molecular ma ss of approximately 22 kDa. The protein was not susceptible to protein ase digestion but was extracted by n-butanol phase partitioning, sugge sting a periplasmic location of the antigen. Sera from humans and cani nes seropositive for B. burgdorferi reacted with the recombinant antig en. The antigen characterized in this report appears to be immunologic ally significant in naturally infected hosts.