Unprecedented genetic variability of PFam54 paralogs among Eurasian Lyme borreliosis-causing spirochetes.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common vector-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere caused by spirochetes belonging to the sensu lato (sl) complex. spirochetes circulate in obligatory transmission cycles between tick vectors and different vertebrate hosts. To successfully complete this complex transmission cycle, sl encodes for an arsenal of proteins including the PFam54 protein family with known, or proposed, influences to reservoir host and/or vector adaptation.

Out of Asia? Expansion of Eurasian Lyme borreliosis causing genospecies display unique evolutionary trajectories.

Vector-borne pathogens exist in obligate transmission cycles between vector and reservoir host species. Host and vector shifts can lead to geographic expansion of infectious agents and the emergence of new diseases in susceptible individuals. Three bacterial genospecies (Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia bavariensis, and Borrelia garinii) predominantly utilize two distinct tick species as vectors in Asia (Ixodes persulcatus) and Europe (Ixodes ricinus).

Identification of Pseudomonas asiatica subsp. bavariensis str. JM1 as the first N -carboxy(m)ethyllysine-degrading soil bacterium.

Thermal food processing leads to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) such as N -carboxymethyllysine (CML). Accordingly, these non-canonical amino acids are an important part of the human diet. However, CML is only partially decomposed by our gut microbiota and up to 30% are excreted via faeces and, hence, enter the environment.

Utilizing Two Borrelia bavariensis Isolates Naturally Lacking the PFam54 Gene Array To Elucidate the Roles of PFam54-Encoded Proteins.

Lyme borreliosis is the most common vector-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere, caused by spirochetes belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi species complex, which are transmitted by ixodid ticks. B. burgdorferi sensu lato species produce a family of proteins on the linear plasmid 54 (PFam54), some of which confer the functions of cell adhesion and inactivation of complement, the first line of host defense.

Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) on birds migrating to the island of Ponza, Italy, and the tick-borne pathogens they carry.

Seasonal migration of birds between breeding and wintering areas can facilitate the spread of tick species and tick-borne diseases. In this study, 151 birds representing 10 different bird species were captured on Ponza Island, an important migratory stopover off the western coast of Italy and screened for tick infestation. Ticks were collected and identified morphologically.

Spatial variability in prevalence and genospecies distributions of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato from ixodid ticks collected in southern Germany.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common arthropod-borne disease in Europe and North America and is caused by members of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl) species complex. These bacteria are transmitted by ixodid tick vectors and therefore human LB risk is influenced by the prevalence and distribution of Bbsl genospecies within tick vectors throughout the wild. These distributions can easily change over spatiotemporal scales and, to understand LB risk fully, up to date information on prevalence and distribution of Bbsl is required.

Host dispersal shapes the population structure of a tick-borne bacterial pathogen.

Birds are hosts for several zoonotic pathogens. Because of their high mobility, especially of longdistance migrants, birds can disperse these pathogens, affecting their distribution and phylogeography. We focused on Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, which includes the causative agents of Lyme borreliosis, as an example for tick-borne pathogens, to address the role of birds as propagation hosts of zoonotic agents at a large geographical scale.

sp. nov., a novel species of the complex, occupying a basal position to North American species.

species are vector-borne parasitic bacteria with unusual, highly fragmented genomes that include a linear chromosome and linear as well as circular plasmids that differ numerically between and within various species. Strain CA690, which was cultivated from a questing nymph in the San Francisco Bay area, CA, was determined to be genetically distinct from all other described species belonging to the complex. The genome, including plasmids, was assembled using a hybrid assembly of short Illumina reads and long reads obtained via Oxford Nanopore Technology.

Core genome phylogenetic analysis of the avian associated Borrelia turdi indicates a close relationship to Borrelia garinii.

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato comprises a species complex of tick-transmitted bacteria that includes the agents of human Lyme borreliosis. Borrelia turdi is a genospecies of this complex that exists in cryptic transmission cycles mainly between ornithophilic tick vectors and their avian hosts. The species has been originally discovered in avian transmission cycles in Asia but has increasingly been found in Europe.

Recurrent evolution of host and vector association in bacteria of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species complex.

Background: The Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) species complex consists of tick-transmitted bacteria and currently comprises approximately 20 named and proposed genospecies some of which are known to cause Lyme Borreliosis.

NGS population genetics analyses reveal divergent evolution of a Lyme Borreliosis agent in Europe and Asia.

Borrelia bavariensis is a recently described agent of Lyme disease within the B. burgdorferi sensu lato species complex and exhibits a strong capacity for human pathogenicity. B.

Sociocultural behavior, sex-biased admixture, and effective population sizes in Central African Pygmies and non-Pygmies.

Sociocultural phenomena, such as exogamy or phylopatry, can largely determine human sex-specific demography. In Central Africa, diverging patterns of sex-specific genetic variation have been observed between mobile hunter-gatherer Pygmies and sedentary agricultural non-Pygmies. However, their sex-specific demography remains largely unknown.

The role of GHR and IGF1 genes in the genetic determination of African pygmies' short stature.

African pygmies are at the lower extreme of human variation in adult stature and many evolutionary hypotheses have been proposed to explain this phenotype. We showed in a recent study that the difference in average stature of about 10 cm observed between contemporary pygmies and neighboring non-pygmies has a genetic component. Nevertheless, the genetic basis of African pygmies' short stature remains unknown.

Indirect evidence for the genetic determination of short stature in African Pygmies.

Central African Pygmy populations are known to be the shortest human populations worldwide. Many evolutionary hypotheses have been proposed to explain this short stature: adaptation to food limitations, climate, forest density, or high mortality rates. However, such hypotheses are difficult to test given the lack of long-term surveys and demographic data.

Can life history trade-offs explain the evolution of short stature in human pygmies? A response to Migliano et al. (2007).

Walker et al. ["Growth rates and life histories in twenty-two small-scale societies," Am. J.