Prescott's Microbiology
10th Edition
ISBN: 9781259281594
Author: Joanne Willey, Linda Sherwood Adjunt Professor Lecturer, Christopher J. Woolverton Professor
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
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Textbook Question
Chapter 39, Problem 5CHI
The spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi causes Lyme disease, which is transmitted to humans when its vector, the deer tick, takes a blood meal. When B. burgdorferi is in the gut of the tick, its outer surface protein A (OspA) is expressed at high levels. Once it has been transmitted to a human, OspA production diminishes. However, to complete its infection cycle and return to the tick, B. burgdorferi cells must increase OspA synthesis. Microbiologists wanted to determine how the spirochete senses the presence of a feeding tick and thus resumes high levels of OspA production. It was discovered that B. burgdorferi specifically binds the host neuroendocrine stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. This enables the microbe to detect the presence of a tick, which results in upregulation of OspA.
Discuss the role of coevolution in the development of B. burgdorferi’s ability to sense and respond to these host compounds. How would you show that among all the mediators of inflammation at the site of a tick bite, the spirochete responds specifically to epinephrine and norepinephrine? Your answer should include some carefully considered control experiments.
Read the original paper: Schekelhoff, M. R., et al. 2007. Borrelia burgdorferi intercepts host hormonal signals to regulate expression of outer surface protein A. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104:7247–52.
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Chapter 39 Solutions
Prescott's Microbiology
Ch. 39.1 - What organisms serve as the environmental...Ch. 39.1 - How is the M protein also thought to be involved...Ch. 39.1 - Prob. 3MICh. 39.1 - Why do you think chlamydiae differentiate into...Ch. 39.1 - Compare and contrast the means by which people...Ch. 39.1 - Prob. 1.3RIACh. 39.1 - What are the three major causes of meningitis? Why...Ch. 39.1 - Prob. 2.2RIACh. 39.1 - What is the reason for the complex antibiotic...Ch. 39.1 - How do multidrug-resistant strains of tuberculosis...
Ch. 39.1 - Prob. 3.1RIACh. 39.1 - What is the mechanism by which PTx kills host...Ch. 39.1 - Prob. 3.3RIACh. 39.1 - Describe the streptococcal exotoxins and how they...Ch. 39.1 - Prob. 4.2RIACh. 39.2 - What are the three stages of Lyme disease? What...Ch. 39.2 - Prob. 1RIACh. 39.2 - Prob. 2RIACh. 39.2 - Prob. 3RIACh. 39.2 - Prob. 4RIACh. 39.2 - How does transovarian passage occur?Ch. 39.3 - What are the chief differences between tuberculoid...Ch. 39.3 - How does H. pylori increase the local pH in its...Ch. 39.3 - Prob. 3MICh. 39.3 - Prob. 4MICh. 39.3 - Prob. 5MICh. 39.3 - Prob. 1.1RIACh. 39.3 - Why do you think the slow growth rate of M. leprae...Ch. 39.3 - Prob. 2.1RIACh. 39.3 - Prob. 2.2RIACh. 39.3 - Prob. 2.3RIACh. 39.3 - Prob. 2.4RIACh. 39.3 - Prob. 2.5RIACh. 39.3 - Prob. 3.1RIACh. 39.3 - Prob. 3.2RIACh. 39.3 - What is the difference between S. aureus and MRSA?Ch. 39.3 - Prob. 3.4RIACh. 39.3 - Prob. 3.5RIACh. 39.3 - Prob. 3.6RIACh. 39.4 - How do the neurological effects of botulinum toxin...Ch. 39.4 - To which E. coli class does the strain 0157:H7...Ch. 39.4 - How can Clostridium botulinum cause disease even...Ch. 39.4 - Compare the gastroenteritis caused by Vibrio...Ch. 39.4 - Prob. 2.1RIACh. 39.4 - Compare toxigenic E. coli disease with invasive...Ch. 39.4 - Prob. 2.3RIACh. 39.4 - Prob. 3.1RIACh. 39.4 - Prob. 3.2RIACh. 39.4 - Prob. 3.3RIACh. 39.5 - Prob. 1MICh. 39.5 - Prob. 1RIACh. 39.5 - Prob. 2RIACh. 39.5 - How is ornithosis transmitted?Ch. 39.5 - Prob. 4RIACh. 39.6 - What cells and tissues make up the pseudomembrane?Ch. 39.6 - Prob. 2MICh. 39.6 - Prob. 1RIACh. 39.6 - In both C. difficileassociated disease and...Ch. 39.6 - Prob. 3RIACh. 39 - Describe a typhoid carrier. How does one become a...Ch. 39 - Many consider cholera as the most severe form of...Ch. 39 - Compare the three stages of syphilis and Lyme...Ch. 39 - While many Vibrio cholerae strains are found in...Ch. 39 - The spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi causes Lyme...
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