{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,20]],"date-time":"2026-09-20T13:01:00Z","timestamp":1789909260693,"version":"4.0.1"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0009868","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,7]],"date-time":"2021-12-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1638835200000}}],"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,23]],"date-time":"2021-11-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637625600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["AI137412"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AI137412"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["AI144187"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AI144187"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:italic>Borrelia turicatae<\/jats:italic> is a causative agent of tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) in the subtropics and tropics of the United States and Latin America. Historically, <jats:italic>B<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>turicatae<\/jats:italic> was thought to be maintained in enzootic cycles in rural areas. However, there is growing evidence that suggests the pathogen has established endemic foci in densely populated regions of Texas. With the growth of homelessness in the state and human activity in city parks, it was important to implement field collection efforts to identify areas where <jats:italic>B<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>turicatae<\/jats:italic> and its vector circulate. Between 2017 and 2020 we collected <jats:italic>Ornithodoros turicata<\/jats:italic> ticks in suburban and urban areas including public and private parks and recreational spaces. Ticks were fed on na\u00efve mice and spirochetes were isolated from the blood. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was performed on eight newly obtained isolates and included previously reported sequences. The four chromosomal loci targeted for MLST were 16S ribosomal RNA (<jats:italic>rrs<\/jats:italic>), flagellin B (<jats:italic>flaB<\/jats:italic>), DNA gyrase B (<jats:italic>gyrB<\/jats:italic>), and the intergenic spacer (IGS). Given the complexity of <jats:italic>Borrelia<\/jats:italic> genomes, plasmid diversity was also evaluated. These studies indicate that the IGS locus segregates <jats:italic>B<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>turicatae<\/jats:italic> into four genomic types and plasmid diversity is extensive between isolates. Furthermore, <jats:italic>B<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>turicatae<\/jats:italic> and its vector have established endemic foci in parks and recreational areas in densely populated settings of Texas.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0009868","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,23]],"date-time":"2021-11-23T20:40:21Z","timestamp":1637700021000},"page":"e0009868","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Diversity and distribution of the tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia turicatae"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Aparna","family":"Krishnavajhala","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0895-0567","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Brittany A.","family":"Armstrong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6243-4096","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Alexander R.","family":"Kneubehl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sarah M.","family":"Gunter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie","family":"Piccione","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hee J.","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9361-6781","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Rosa","family":"Ramirez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ivan","family":"Castro-Arellano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Walter","family":"Roachell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0625-3028","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Pete D.","family":"Teel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4802-5779","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Job E.","family":"Lopez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"pntd.0009868.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"417","DOI":"10.1016\/S0025-7125(03)00095-6","article-title":"Tick-borne relapsing fever in North America.","volume":"86","author":"MS Dworkin","year":"2002","journal-title":"Med Clin North Amer"},{"issue":"11","key":"pntd.0009868.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2003","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2411.172033","article-title":"Detection of tickborne relapsing fever spirochete, Austin, Texas, USA","volume":"24","author":"JD Bissett","year":"2018","journal-title":"Emerg Infect Dis"},{"key":"pntd.0009868.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"436","DOI":"10.3201\/eid1303.060958","article-title":"Diversity and distribution of Borrelia hermsii","volume":"13","author":"TG Schwan","year":"2007","journal-title":"Emerg Infect Dis"},{"issue":"7","key":"pntd.0009868.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1026","DOI":"10.3201\/eid1507.090223","article-title":"Tick-borne relapsing fever and Borrelia hermsii, Los Angeles County, California, USA","volume":"15","author":"TG Schwan","year":"2009","journal-title":"Emerg Infect Dis"},{"issue":"2","key":"pntd.0009868.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0004383","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0004383","article-title":"Assessment of the geographic distribution of Ornithodoros turicata (Argasidae): Climate variation and host diversity.","volume":"10","author":"TG Donaldson","year":"2016","journal-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis"},{"issue":"3","key":"pntd.0009868.ref006","first-page":"7","article-title":"The problem of relapsing fever in the Americas.","volume":"42","author":"O. 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