Language
English
Publication Date
1-1-2026
Journal
Current Research in Microbial Sciences
DOI
10.1016/j.crmicr.2026.100598
PMID
42065078
PMCID
PMC13125913
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
4-19-2026
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Antigenic variation enables immune evasion of pathogens, yet the mechanisms for the rapid change in their antigens without loss of structural and functional features are not fully known. Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) spirochetes of the genus Borrelia can be used as a model because their variable major proteins (Vmps) drive antigenic variation followed by recurrent waves of bacteremia. In this study we generated the genome of Borrelia persica LMU-C01 and evaluated Vmp structure across relapsing fever Borrelia species. Borrelia persica was found to have a genome of 1.7Mb with one linear chromosome, 12 linear and one circular plasmids. Telomeric hairpin motifs characteristic of Borrelia linear replicons were detected in the chromosome and in the linear plasmids. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis indicated that plasmid profiles remained identical after a year of continuous in-vitro cultivation. Genome annotation revealed 48 complete variable large proteins (Vlps) and one variable small protein (Vsp), all encoded in plasmids. Comparative structure modeling of B. persica Vlps together with 420 Vlps from twelve TBRF species revealed a conserved, surface-exposed variable region that occupies a similar external predicted position across structures, even as primary sequences diverge. This indicated that antigenic variation preserves topology while tolerating sequence plasticity, which may be shared with other immune evasive bacteria.
Keywords
Borrelia persica, Relapsing fever, Antigenic variation, Common variable region, Whole genome sequencing
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Shwartz, Dor; Nachum-Biala, Yaarit; Straubinger, Reinhard K; et al., "Genomic and Structural Analysis of Major Antigenic Proteins’ Variability in the Human Relapsing Fever Spirochete Borrelia persica" (2026). Faculty, Staff and Students Publications. 7007.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/7007