Borrelia burgdorferi causes
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex comprises Ixodes tick-borne spirochetes causing Lyme borreliosis, the most common vector-borne illness in temperate regions worldwide. These diderm spirochetes possess linear chromosome and numerous linear and circular plasmids encoding antigenically variable outer surface proteins OspA-OspC facilitating immune evasion through antigenic switching. Characteristic flat-wave morphology and periplasmic flagella enable dissemination through connective tissue leading to erythema migrans, arthritis, carditis, and neuroborreliosis. Taxonomy within Spirochaetacea
Ref: CDC Lyme Disease Borrelia burgdorferi tick-borne; Jawetz Medical Microbiology 27th ed., Borrelia spirochete linear chromosome plasmids
