Characterization and identification of Borrelia isolates as Borrelia valaisiana in Taiwan and Kinmen Islands

Eleven pure cultures of Borrelia from 3 species of wild rodents (Apodemus a grarius, Mus formosanus, Rattus losea) captured in Taichung, located in the center of Taiwan island, and on Kinmen Island were characterized. Five iso lates showed restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of 5S -23S rRNA gene intergenic spacer sequences identical to those of strains 5M T and 10MT, identified as Borrelia valaisiana, which were isolated in the s outhern tip of South Korea, Although the remaining six isolates showed nove l RFLP patterns, these isolates showed more similarity to members of B. val aisiana from Korea, Japan and Europe based on 16S rRNA gene and flagellin g ene sequences. This led us to speculate that transmission and proliferation of this type of borrelia occurred between Taiwan and the southern part of South Korea.