{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T06:47:37Z","timestamp":1777877257144,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2009,6,1]],"date-time":"2009-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1243814400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Lyme disease is caused by the tick-borne spirochete,\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Borrelia burgdorferi.<\/jats:italic>\n                    It has been documented that\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">B. burgdorferi<\/jats:italic>\n                    form aggregates within ticks and during\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                    culture. However,\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Borrelia<\/jats:italic>\n                    aggregates remain poorly characterized, and their functional significance is unknown. Here we have characterized\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Borrelia<\/jats:italic>\n                    aggregates using microscopy and flow cytometry.\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Borrelia<\/jats:italic>\n                    aggregation was temperature, pH, and growth phase dependent. Environmental conditions (high temperature, low pH, and high cell density) favorable for aggregation were similar to the conditions that increased the expression of\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">B. burgdoferi<\/jats:italic>\n                    genes, such as outer surface protein C (\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">ospC<\/jats:italic>\n                    ), that are regulated by the RpoN\/RpoS sigma factors. Experiments were conducted to determine if there is a relationship between aggregation and gene regulation through the RpoN\/RpoS pathway.\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">ospC<\/jats:italic>\n                    Transcript levels were similar between aggregates and free cells. Moreover, no differences were observed in aggregate formation when null mutants of\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rpoS<\/jats:italic>\n                    ,\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">rpoN<\/jats:italic>\n                    , or\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">ospC<\/jats:italic>\n                    were compared to wild-type spirochetes. These results indicated that, despite the similar external signals that promoted aggregation and the RpoN\/RpoS pathway, the two processes were not linked at the molecular level. The methods developed here to study\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">B. burgdorferi<\/jats:italic>\n                    aggregates will be useful for further studies on spirochete aggregates.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1089\/vbz.2008.0148","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,6,5]],"date-time":"2009-06-05T11:30:37Z","timestamp":1244201437000},"page":"323-329","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Characterization of\n                    <i>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/i>\n                    Aggregates"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Siddharth Y.","family":"Srivastava","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of North Carolina"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aravinda M.","family":"de Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of North Carolina"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2009,6,1]]},"container-title":["Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1089\/vbz.2008.0148","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1089\/vbz.2008.0148","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T22:46:04Z","timestamp":1777589164000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1089\/vbz.2008.0148"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2009,6]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,6]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1089\/vbz.2008.0148"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1089\/vbz.2008.0148","relation":{},"ISSN":["1530-3667","1557-7759"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1530-3667","type":"print"},{"value":"1557-7759","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2009,6]]}}}