Ticks carrying more than one pathogen are on the rise in US Northeast Tick-borne diseases are on the rise in the northeastern US, with many ticks carrying more than one pathogen. So reports a recent analysis published in Ecosphere by researchers at Cary Institute of…

#Ticks carrying more than one #pathogen are on the rise in U.S. Northeast ...

| #diseases | #infections | #pathogens | #Borrelia | #Babesia | #Anaplasma | #Rickettsia | #Powassan | By @caryinstitute.bsky.social via eurekalert .org

Microbial network stability, not diversity, drives colonization resistance against #Borrelia afzelii in #Ixodes ricinus #ticks Publication date: March 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 2 Author(s): Lianet Abuin-Denis, Lourdes Mateos-Hernández, Apolline Maitre, Alejandra Wu-Chuang, Myriam Kratou, Salma Kaoutar Abdelali, Ana Laura Cano-Argüelles, Štefánia Skičková, Dasiel Obregon, Alina Rodríguez-Mallon, Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz

Microbial network stability, not diversity, drives colonization resistance against #Borrelia afzelii in #Ixodes ricinus #ticks Ticks&TBD

Microbial network stability, not diversity, drives colonization resistance against #Borrelia afzelii in #Ixodes ricinus #ticks Publication date: March 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 2 Author(s): Lianet Abuin-Denis, Lourdes Mateos-Hernández, Apolline Maitre, Alejandra Wu-Chuang, Myriam Kratou, Salma Kaoutar Abdelali, Ana Laura Cano-Argüelles, Štefánia Skičková, Dasiel Obregon, Alina Rodríguez-Mallon, Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz

Microbial network stability, not diversity, drives colonization resistance against #Borrelia afzelii in #Ixodes ricinus #ticks Ticks&TBD

Persistent Borrelia Infection in Chronic Lyme Disease A Review of the Medical Literature Chronic Lyme disease (CLD) remains a controversial illness. The controversy is based on a profound disagreement over the existence of persistent infection with the Lyme spirochete, Borrelia burgdorfer...

Lyme disease persistence is real: 56 studies show B. burgdorferi can survive antibiotics via cysts, biofilms & more. Understanding this is key to ending chronic symptoms & improving treatments.

Read more: scirp.org/journal/pape...

#Lymedisease #Borreliaburgdorferi #Borrelia

The current standard-of-care test for #Lyme disease is often insufficient for an accurate #diagnosis, leaving many patients without timely medical intervention.

Recent breakthroughs & collaborations identifying alternative #Borrelia antigens, as opposed to antibodies, will likely improve diagnosis.

An interesting feature of #Borrelia evolution:

Interesting insights on Borrelia's resilience against the invasion of foreign genetic material into its own #genome, which make genomic modifications of this bacterium difficult to achieve in the lab:

#LymeDisease #Borrelia #lablife

New insights on interactions between the #Borrelia cell wall and host cells that contribute to the progression of #Lyme disease:

#ticks #LymeDisease #research #CellBiology

Peptidoglycan architecture dictates protein interactions, tissue tropism, and arthritis in the #Lyme disease spirochete #Borrelia burgdorferi by Saadman S. Ahmad, Osamudiamen Ebohon, Mecaila E. McClune, Rebecca N. Trimble, Casey N. Kellogg, Carmen J. Booth, Wolfram R. Zückert, Brandon L. Jutras Lyme disease is a vector-borne illness transmitted by infected #Ixodes spp. ticks. Dissemination of the Lyme spirochete—Borrelia burgdorferi—from the tick bite site results in a bi-phasic infection; the latter phase can cause severe musculoskeletal disease including arthritis. Lyme arthritis is an inflammatory disorder and maladaptive immune response to B. burgdorferi infection and its cellular products. One such product, which has been implicated as a key mediator of Lyme arthritis, is peptidoglycan. Peptidoglycan (PG) is a near ubiquitous feature of the bacterial cell envelope, but several chemical features make B. burgdorferi PG distinct from other members of the kingdom. We hypothesized the overall chemical composition and structural architecture of the B. burgdorferi cell wall are essential to Lyme disease pathogenesis. To manipulate the PG peptide chemical composition, as well as the native cross-links, we produced an isogenic deletion of a putative PG carboxypeptidase dacA homologue and assessed both the molecular and cellular phenotypes while probing the pathogenicity of our mutant strain. Our combined and comprehensive approach indicates while changes to PG stem peptide and cross-linking have virtually no discernable impact on any B. burgdorferi characteristic in vitro, alterations have significant impacts on tissue tropism and result in a near complete attenuation of Lyme arthritis. PG sacculi containing increased amounts of free and cross-linked pentapeptide surprisingly caused the disassociation of p83/100, an abundant periplasmic protein of unknown function previously implicated in joint tropism, likely contributing to a marked decrease in pathogenicity. These studies strengthen our understanding of the B. burgdorferi cell envelope, its unusual components, and further define bacterial features that mediate infectious arthritis.

Peptidoglycan architecture dictates protein interactions, tissue tropism, and arthritis in the #Lyme disease spirochete #Borrelia burgdorferi PLOSPathogens

Peptidoglycan architecture dictates protein interactions, tissue tropism, and arthritis in the #Lyme disease spirochete #Borrelia burgdorferi by Saadman S. Ahmad, Osamudiamen Ebohon, Mecaila E. McClune, Rebecca N. Trimble, Casey N. Kellogg, Carmen J. Booth, Wolfram R. Zückert, Brandon L. Jutras Lyme disease is a vector-borne illness transmitted by infected #Ixodes spp. ticks. Dissemination of the Lyme spirochete—Borrelia burgdorferi—from the tick bite site results in a bi-phasic infection; the latter phase can cause severe musculoskeletal disease including arthritis. Lyme arthritis is an inflammatory disorder and maladaptive immune response to B. burgdorferi infection and its cellular products. One such product, which has been implicated as a key mediator of Lyme arthritis, is peptidoglycan. Peptidoglycan (PG) is a near ubiquitous feature of the bacterial cell envelope, but several chemical features make B. burgdorferi PG distinct from other members of the kingdom. We hypothesized the overall chemical composition and structural architecture of the B. burgdorferi cell wall are essential to Lyme disease pathogenesis. To manipulate the PG peptide chemical composition, as well as the native cross-links, we produced an isogenic deletion of a putative PG carboxypeptidase dacA homologue and assessed both the molecular and cellular phenotypes while probing the pathogenicity of our mutant strain. Our combined and comprehensive approach indicates while changes to PG stem peptide and cross-linking have virtually no discernable impact on any B. burgdorferi characteristic in vitro, alterations have significant impacts on tissue tropism and result in a near complete attenuation of Lyme arthritis. PG sacculi containing increased amounts of free and cross-linked pentapeptide surprisingly caused the disassociation of p83/100, an abundant periplasmic protein of unknown function previously implicated in joint tropism, likely contributing to a marked decrease in pathogenicity. These studies strengthen our understanding of the B. burgdorferi cell envelope, its unusual components, and further define bacterial features that mediate infectious arthritis.

Peptidoglycan architecture dictates protein interactions, tissue tropism, and arthritis in the #Lyme disease spirochete #Borrelia burgdorferi PLOSPathogens

#Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. and its genetic variability in five European countries Publication date: January 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 1 Author(s): Michal Chvostáč, Sabrina Hepner, Gabriele Margos, Yuliya M. Didyk, Michal Stanko, Bronislava Víchová, Barbara Mangová, Veronika Rusňáková Tarageľová, Andreas Sing, Volker Fingerle, Markéta Derdáková

#Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. and its genetic variability in five European countries Ticks&TBD

#Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. and its genetic variability in five European countries Publication date: January 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 1 Author(s): Michal Chvostáč, Sabrina Hepner, Gabriele Margos, Yuliya M. Didyk, Michal Stanko, Bronislava Víchová, Barbara Mangová, Veronika Rusňáková Tarageľová, Andreas Sing, Volker Fingerle, Markéta Derdáková

#Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. and its genetic variability in five European countries Ticks&TBD

#Borrelia circulating in soft #ticks infesting colonial breeding seabirds along the Portuguese coast Publication date: January 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 1 Author(s): Ana Cláudia Norte, Maria Sofia Núncio, Maria Teresa Luz, Paulo Parreira, Jorge Pereira, Adriana Sofia Domingues, Maria Inês Laranjeiro, Sara Veríssimo, Ivo dos Santos, Catarina Santos Lopes, Filipe Rafael Ceia, Vítor Hugo Paiva, Jaime Albino Ramos, Isabel Lopes de Carvalho

#Borrelia circulating in soft #ticks infesting colonial breeding seabirds along the Portuguese coast Ticks&TBD

#Borrelia circulating in soft #ticks infesting colonial breeding seabirds along the Portuguese coast Publication date: January 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 1 Author(s): Ana Cláudia Norte, Maria Sofia Núncio, Maria Teresa Luz, Paulo Parreira, Jorge Pereira, Adriana Sofia Domingues, Maria Inês Laranjeiro, Sara Veríssimo, Ivo dos Santos, Catarina Santos Lopes, Filipe Rafael Ceia, Vítor Hugo Paiva, Jaime Albino Ramos, Isabel Lopes de Carvalho

#Borrelia circulating in soft #ticks infesting colonial breeding seabirds along the Portuguese coast Ticks&TBD

Lipid scavenging by the #Lyme disease spirochete #Borrelia burgdorferi by Peter J. Gwynne, Jeffery S. Bourgeois, Aarya Pandit, John M. Asara, Linden T. Hu Lyme disease is caused by the host-adapted spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. With a genome of only 1.5 mbp, B. burgdorferi is dependent on metabolites scavenged from their vertebrate and invertebrate hosts for growth. These scavenged nutrients include several lipid precursors: the spirochete is auxotrophic for fatty acids and cholesterol, and also accumulates environmental phospholipids. Comprehensive lipidomic analysis of B. burgdorferi by LC MS/MS was used to identify previously undescribed membrane components. These include some likely scavenged from the culture medium and some which may be synthesized de novo via unknown pathways. Changes in fatty acid composition as cells enter stationary phase suggest that scavenging of environmental lipids is preferential to de novo synthesis, while transcriptomics suggests that this may be due to the energetic cost of synthesizing glycerol phosphate precursors. In media supplemented with excess phospholipids, scavenged lipids can be found at high concentrations in cells, suggesting that the membranes of infecting bacteria are likely to be partly shaped by the host environment. Transcriptomic analysis also show a link between environmental lipids and the expression of virulence-associated surface lipoproteins including reciprocal regulation of ospA and ospC. Given that borrelial membrane lipids are known to be antigenic during infection, these findings identify potential new targets for the development of diagnostic tests or vaccines.

Lipid scavenging by the #Lyme disease spirochete #Borrelia burgdorferi PLOSPathogens

Lipid scavenging by the #Lyme disease spirochete #Borrelia burgdorferi by Peter J. Gwynne, Jeffery S. Bourgeois, Aarya Pandit, John M. Asara, Linden T. Hu Lyme disease is caused by the host-adapted spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. With a genome of only 1.5 mbp, B. burgdorferi is dependent on metabolites scavenged from their vertebrate and invertebrate hosts for growth. These scavenged nutrients include several lipid precursors: the spirochete is auxotrophic for fatty acids and cholesterol, and also accumulates environmental phospholipids. Comprehensive lipidomic analysis of B. burgdorferi by LC MS/MS was used to identify previously undescribed membrane components. These include some likely scavenged from the culture medium and some which may be synthesized de novo via unknown pathways. Changes in fatty acid composition as cells enter stationary phase suggest that scavenging of environmental lipids is preferential to de novo synthesis, while transcriptomics suggests that this may be due to the energetic cost of synthesizing glycerol phosphate precursors. In media supplemented with excess phospholipids, scavenged lipids can be found at high concentrations in cells, suggesting that the membranes of infecting bacteria are likely to be partly shaped by the host environment. Transcriptomic analysis also show a link between environmental lipids and the expression of virulence-associated surface lipoproteins including reciprocal regulation of ospA and ospC. Given that borrelial membrane lipids are known to be antigenic during infection, these findings identify potential new targets for the development of diagnostic tests or vaccines.

Lipid scavenging by the #Lyme disease spirochete #Borrelia burgdorferi PLOSPathogens

Comparative Analysis of Borrelia’s Defence Mechanisms and Their Impact on Genetic Manipulation of Low-Passage Isolates of #Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #OpenAccess #MicroSky

#Lyme arthritis: Demographic characteristics and #Borrelia ospA genospecies in synovial fluid. A 17-year cohort study in Sweden Publication date: January 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 1 Author(s): Katharina Ornstein, Camilla Broholm, Ram B. Dessau, Ann-Cathrine Petersson

#Lyme arthritis: Demographic characteristics and #Borrelia ospA genospecies in synovial fluid. A 17-year cohort study in Sweden Ticks&TBD

#Lyme arthritis: Demographic characteristics and #Borrelia ospA genospecies in synovial fluid. A 17-year cohort study in Sweden Publication date: January 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 1 Author(s): Katharina Ornstein, Camilla Broholm, Ram B. Dessau, Ann-Cathrine Petersson

#Lyme arthritis: Demographic characteristics and #Borrelia ospA genospecies in synovial fluid. A 17-year cohort study in Sweden Ticks&TBD

TICK-REPELLENT AND ACARICIDAL PROPERTIES OF PINE SPECIES (PINUS SPP.) AND THEIR THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL AGAINST BORRELIA SPP.

Read full article: acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...

Let’s discuss!

#ticks #borrelia #lymedisease #TickBorneDiseases #pinus #essentialoils #vectorcontrol #research

Seroprevalence of #Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and incidence of #Lyme borreliosis in Switzerland Publication date: November 2025 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 16, Issue 6 Author(s): Rahel Ackermann-Gäumann, Christoph Niederhauser, Peter Gowland, Frederick J. Angulo, Alexandra Loew-Baselli, Gordon Brestrich, Ye Tan, Michelle Covi, Andreas Pilz, James Stark, Antony Croxatto, Reto Lienhard

Seroprevalence of #Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and incidence of #Lyme borreliosis in Switzerland Ticks&TBD

Seroprevalence of #Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and incidence of #Lyme borreliosis in Switzerland Publication date: November 2025 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 16, Issue 6 Author(s): Rahel Ackermann-Gäumann, Christoph Niederhauser, Peter Gowland, Frederick J. Angulo, Alexandra Loew-Baselli, Gordon Brestrich, Ye Tan, Michelle Covi, Andreas Pilz, James Stark, Antony Croxatto, Reto Lienhard

Seroprevalence of #Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and incidence of #Lyme borreliosis in Switzerland Ticks&TBD

Experimental transmission of the relapsing fever spirochete #Borrelia persica in its #tick vector Ornithodoros tholozani by transstadial, transovarial, and hyperparasitism routes with description of dynamics within the #tick host Borrelia persica causes tick-borne relapsing fever, a potentially fatal human and animal disease, in the Middle East and Central Asia. The transmission of B. persica in Ornithodoros tholozani ticks has been repor...

Experimental transmission of the relapsing fever spirochete #Borrelia persica in its #tick vector Ornithodoros tholozani by transstadial, transovarial, and hyperparasitism routes with description of dynamics within the #tick host Parasites&Vectors

Experimental transmission of the relapsing fever spirochete #Borrelia persica in its #tick vector Ornithodoros tholozani by transstadial, transovarial, and hyperparasitism routes with description of dynamics within the #tick host Borrelia persica causes tick-borne relapsing fever, a potentially fatal human and animal disease, in the Middle East and Central Asia. The transmission of B. persica in Ornithodoros tholozani ticks has been repor...

Experimental transmission of the relapsing fever spirochete #Borrelia persica in its #tick vector Ornithodoros tholozani by transstadial, transovarial, and hyperparasitism routes with description of dynamics within the #tick host Parasites&Vectors

The contribution of the Midichloria mitochondrii endosymbiont to #Borrelia infection dynamics Recent studies have revealed a positive correlation between the presence of the Midichloria mitochondrii endosymbiont and #Borrelia species in the #tick #vector, suggesting potential interactions that may influence pathogen infection and the transmission dynamics of #lyme borreliosis. This article discusses the possible mechanistic pathways underlying these interactions.

The contribution of the Midichloria mitochondrii endosymbiont to #Borrelia infection dynamics Trends_Parasitol

The contribution of the Midichloria mitochondrii endosymbiont to #Borrelia infection dynamics Recent studies have revealed a positive correlation between the presence of the Midichloria mitochondrii endosymbiont and #Borrelia species in the #tick #vector, suggesting potential interactions that may influence pathogen infection and the transmission dynamics of #lyme borreliosis. This article discusses the possible mechanistic pathways underlying these interactions.

The contribution of the Midichloria mitochondrii endosymbiont to #Borrelia infection dynamics Trends_Parasitol

Prevalence of #Borrelia miyamotoi and Neoehrlichia mikurensis in a cohort of #tick-exposed individuals and population controls in Denmark 2002–2021 Publication date: November 2025 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 16, Issue 6 Author(s): Helene Mens, Rosa Gynthersen, Nanna Skaarup Andersen, Mathilde Ørbæk, Fredrikke C. Knudtzen, Sanne Løkkegaard Larsen, Sigurdur Skarphedinsson, Olga A. Stukolova, Dieuwertje Hoornstra, Joppe W. Hovius, Anne-Mette Lebech

Prevalence of #Borrelia miyamotoi and Neoehrlichia mikurensis in a cohort of #tick-exposed individuals and population controls in Denmark 2002–2021 Ticks&TBD

Prevalence of #Borrelia miyamotoi and Neoehrlichia mikurensis in a cohort of #tick-exposed individuals and population controls in Denmark 2002–2021 Publication date: November 2025 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 16, Issue 6 Author(s): Helene Mens, Rosa Gynthersen, Nanna Skaarup Andersen, Mathilde Ørbæk, Fredrikke C. Knudtzen, Sanne Løkkegaard Larsen, Sigurdur Skarphedinsson, Olga A. Stukolova, Dieuwertje Hoornstra, Joppe W. Hovius, Anne-Mette Lebech

Prevalence of #Borrelia miyamotoi and Neoehrlichia mikurensis in a cohort of #tick-exposed individuals and population controls in Denmark 2002–2021 Ticks&TBD

Lyme Disease Vaccine Introduction: Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium responsible for causing Lyme Disease, was identified relatively recently by Dr. Willy Burgdorfer in 1980 (Pavia et al., 2024). From Miklossy et al.…

#Vaccines are a powerful line of defence against many debilitating #diseases, training our #immune systems to recognize and destroy pathogens.

But vaccinating against #Borrelia, the bacteria causing #LymeDisease, is tricky.

Check out why in my latest piece: uniofnomi.wordpress.com/2025/03/14/l...

Paper for consideration by those looking at post treatment #Lyme disease. #Lyme arthritis solved, so what about other manifestations caused by interaction of #Borrelia with #immune system? Any #research interest out there thinking of #PPIE? (said more in hope than expectation). @nihr.bsky.social