Genetic variation of in Fairfax County, Virginia, targeting the OspC gene in white-footed mice.

Outer surface protein C (OspC) is a commonly used marker in population studies of to differentiate types and establish evolution over time. Investigating the genetic types of across multiple organ tissues of white-footed mice has the potential to contribute to our understanding of Lyme disease and the wide spectrum of clinical presentation associated with infection. In this study, five unique tissue types were sampled from 90 mice and screened for infections. This initial screening revealed a 63% overall infection rate in the mice collected (57/90). A total of 163 tissues (30.4%) tested positive for infections and when mapped to types, 143,894 of the initial 322,480 reads mapped to 10 of the reference sequences in the strain library constructed for this study at a 97% MOI. Two tissue types, the ear and the tongue, each accounted for 90% of the observed sequence diversity in the tissue samples surveyed. The largest amount of variation was observed in an individual ear tissue sample with six sequence types, which is equivalent to 60% of the observed variation seen across all tested specimens, with statistically significant associations observed between tissue type and detected . There is strong evidence for genetic variability in within local white-footed mouse populations and even within individual hosts by tissue type. These findings may shed light on drivers of infection sequalae in specific tissues in humans and highlights the need for expanded surveillance on the epigenetics of across reservoirs, ticks, and infected patients.