CHARACTERIZATION OF BORRELIA-GARINII ISOLATED FROM LYME-DISEASE PATIENTS IN HOKKAIDO, JAPAN, BY SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF OSPA AND OSPB GENES

The outer surface proteins OspA and OspB genes of clinical Borrelia ga rinii isolates (JEM1-8) from Hokkaido, Japan were sequenced. One strai n, JEM4, has a single ospA gene which is similar to European B. garini i strains PBr (sequence homology value: 94.1%) and T25 (91.2%). Five o f the other seven strains exhibit a homologous C-terminus (300 bp) on both ospA and ospB genes (88.7-97.3%). The other two strains seem to b e derived from the five strains by ospA or ospB alterations. In a phyl ogenetic analysis based on ospA, these strains could be classified int o B. garinii, but formed independent branches and separated from the t ypical B. garinii isolates from Europe and Russia.