Study from Yang at Yale on Bb movement in tick gut

Linda’s comments:  Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is transmitted to humans by bite of Ixodes scapularis ticks. The mechanisms by which the bacterium is transmitted from vector to host are poorly understood.  Now we need to educate alternative docs….

Link: http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1002079

Excerpt:

Using a yeast surface display approach, 
a tick gut protein named TRE31 was identified to interact with BBE31. 
Silencing tre31 also decreased the B. burgdorferi burden in the tick 
hemolymph. Delineating the specific spirochete and arthropod ligands 
required for B. burgdorferi movement in the tick may lead to new 
strategies to interrupt the life cycle of the Lyme disease agent.