Purification of periplasmic flagellar antigen from Borrelia microtti.

Borrelia microtti and Borrelia persica are 2 Iranian strains of Borrelia found in western Asia and responsible for relapsing fever. The outer surface antigens of Borrelia undergo variations which are responsible for the relapsing phenomenon. The fixed flagellar antigen is required for diagnosis as the variant antigens cannot be used in serological methods of diagnosis.