Term of Award

1994

Degree Name

Master of Science in Biology

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Department

Department of Biology

Committee Chair

James H. Oliver, Jr.

Committee Member 1

William S. Irby

Committee Member 2

Wayne A. Krissinger

Abstract

The SI-4 strain of Borrelia burgdorferi obtained from field collected Ixodes scapularis on Sapelo Island, Georgia, was infective to seven of eight cotton mice (Peromyscus gossypinus) by needle inoculation. I. scapularis larvae were then fed on them, and nymphs molting from these larvae were then fed on laboratory mice, Mus musculus, in an attempt to transmit the spirochete. One of three mice was successfully infected; confirmation of the presence of B. burgdorferi was made using BSK II culture and the polymerase chain reaction (PGR). A subsequent attempt was made to determine if SI-4 was infective for Eumeces spp. skinks, a common host to /. scapularis immatures and a potential reservoir host for B. burgdorferi in the southeastern United States. Skinks were inoculated with the SI-4 isolate by needle and also by feeding potentially infected ticks on them. Subsequent attempts to determine presence of the spirochete in these skinks using PGR assay of their organs were inconclusive.

Copyright

This work is archived and distributed under the repository’s standard copyright and reuse license for Theses and Dissertations authored 2005 and prior, available here. Under this license, end-users may copy, store, and distribute this work without restriction. For questions related to additional reuse of this work, please contact the copyright owner. Copyright owners who wish to review or revise the terms of this license, please contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu.

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