RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Host tropism determination by convergent evolution of immunological evasion in the Lyme disease system
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.02.09.430532
DO 10.1101/2021.02.09.430532
A1 Thomas M. Hart
A1 Alan P. Dupuis II
A1 Danielle M. Tufts
A1 Anna M. Blom
A1 Simon Starkey
A1 Ryan O. M. Rego
A1 Sanjay Ram
A1 Peter Kraiczy
A1 Laura D. Kramer
A1 Maria A. Diuk-Wasser
A1 Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis
A1 Yi-Pin Lin
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/02/10/2021.02.09.430532.abstract
AB Microparasites selectively adapt in some hosts, known as host tropism. Transmitted through ticks and carried mainly by mammals and birds, the Lyme disease (LD) bacterium is a well-suited model to study such tropism. LD bacteria species vary in host ranges through mechanisms eluding characterization. By feeding ticks infected with different LD bacteria species, utilizing feeding chambers and live mice and quail, we found species-level differences of bacterial transmission. These differences localize on the tick blood meal, and complement, a defense in vertebrate blood, and a bacterial polymorphic protein, CspA, which inactivates complement by binding to a host complement inhibitor, FH. CspA selectively confers bacterial transmission to vertebrates that produce FH capable of allele-specific recognition. Phylogenetic analyses revealed convergent evolution as the driver of such findings, which likely emerged during the last glacial maximum. Our results identify LD bacterial determinants of host tropism, defining an evolutionary mechanism that shapes host-microparasite associations.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.