Or...Search This Site Home Symptoms Live Discussion Diagnosis Treatment World-wide Support Finder Library Research Lymelinks Contact Pets & Lyme DONATIONS Drug Info Medical Dictionary Board of Directors      Click on the graphic to vote for this site as a Starting Point Hot Site. -- No Warranties or Representations The data and information presented in this web site are presented in good faith and believed to be accurate. Any and all liability for the content or any omissions including any inaccuracies, errors, or misstatements in such data or information is expressly disclaimed. The web site is compiled for the sole purpose of informing community members of resources and information pertaining to Lyme Borreliosis Disease and its coinfections. The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, Directors and members are not liable for any direct or indirect damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tortious action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of information available from this website. Consult a qualified Lyme ( Borreliosis ) Disease literate doctor for medical advice if Lyme Disease is suspect. en français For Physicians Ticks Coinfections Prevention Our Stories Click Here to order our free Lyme Disease Flyer,    Here for our free Lyme Disease Poster ..documents may be copied (to distribute) but edit only for alignment. 1: Infect Immun. 2002 Aug;70(8):4099-105. LuxS-mediated quorum sensing in Borrelia burgdorferi, the lyme disease spirochete. Stevenson B, Babb K. Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington 40536-0298, USA. bstev0@uky.edu The establishment of Borrelia burgdorferi infection involves numerous interactions between the bacteria and a variety of vertebrate host and arthropod vector tissues. This complex process requires regulated synthesis of many bacterial proteins. We now demonstrate that these spirochetes utilize a LuxS/autoinducer-2 (AI-2)-based quorum-sensing mechanism to regulate protein expression, the first system of cell-cell communication to be described in a spirochete. The luxS gene of B. burgdorferi was identified and demonstrated to encode a functional enzyme by complementation of an Escherichia coli luxS mutant. Cultured B. burgdorferi responded to AI-2 by altering the expression levels of a large number of proteins, including the complement regulator factor H-binding Erp proteins. Through this mechanism, a population of Lyme disease spirochetes may synchronize production of specific proteins needed for infection processes. TOP