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Gern, Lise

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Gern, Lise
Affiliation principale
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Ancien.ne collaborateur.trice
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https://libra.unine.ch/handle/123456789/303

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  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Genetic variation in transmission success of the Lyme borreliosis pathogen Borrelia afzelii
    (2015)
    Tonetti, Nicolas 
    ;
    Voordouw, Maarten 
    ;
    Durand, Jonas 
    ;
    Monnier, Séverine
    ;
    Gern, Lise 
    The vector-to-host and host-to-vector transmission steps are the two critical events that define the life cycle of any vector-borne pathogen. We expect negative genetic correlations between these two transmission phenotypes, if parasite genotypes specialized at invading the vector are less effective at infecting the vertebrate host and vice versa. We used the tick-borne bacterium Borrelia afzelii, a causative agent of Lyme borreliosis in Europe, to test whether genetic trade-offs exist between tick-to-host, systemic (host-to-tick), and a third mode of co-feeding (tick-to-tick) transmission. We worked with six strains of B. afzelii that were differentiated according to their ospC gene. We compared the three components of transmission among the B. afzelii strains using laboratory rodents as the vertebrate host and a laboratory colony of Ixodes ricinus as the tick vector. We used next generation matrix models to combine these transmission components into a single estimate of the reproductive number (R0) for each B. afzelii strain. We also tested whether these strain-specific estimates of R0 were correlated with the strain-specific frequencies in the field. We found significant genetic variation in the three transmission components among the B. afzelii strains. This is the first study to document genetic variation in co-feeding transmission for any tick-borne pathogen. We found no evidence of trade-offs as the three pairwise correlations of the transmission rates were all positive. The R0 values from our laboratory study explained 45% of the variation in the frequencies of the B. afzelii ospC strains in the field. Our study suggests that laboratory estimates of pathogen fitness can predict the distribution of pathogen strains in nature.
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato from the Skin of the European Badger (Meles meles) in Switzerland
    (2009)
    Gern, Lise 
    ;
    Sell, Katy
    No data are available on the role of badgers in the ecology of Lyme borreliosis spirochetes in Europe. In a recent study describing validation of a molecular method allowing host DNA identification and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato detection in Ixodes ricinus, the simultaneous presence of B. afzelii DNA and of European badger (Meles meles) DNA was detected in I. ricinus ticks in Switzerland. This suggested that badgers might be reservoir hosts for B. afzelii. Here, we present results obtained in a study on badgers conducted in 1996-1997. Thirty-one tissue samples (ear biopsy: n = 25, aspiration fluid: n = 6) from 8 badgers were placed in BSK medium to isolate B. burgdorferi sensu lato and were then examined by polymerase chain reaction/ restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR/RFLP). Globally, six Borrelia isolates (6/31, 19.4%) were obtained from 3/8 (37.5%) badgers. These isolates were identified as B. afzelii (n = 3) and B. valaisiana (n = 3).
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Transmission of Borrelia afzelii from Apodemus mice and Clethrionomys voles to Ixodes ricinus ticks: differential transmission pattern and overwintering maintenance
    (1999)
    Humair, Pierre-François
    ;
    Rais, Olivier 
    ;
    Gern, Lise 
    This study deals with the ecology of Lyme borreliosis in Europe. The relationships between Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato spirochetes, Clethrionomys and Apodemus rodent reservoirs and the Ixodes ricinus tick vector were investigated during 16 consecutive months in an enzootic area in Switzerland. Cultivation of ear skin biopsies was used to isolate spirochetes from C. glareolus, A. sylvaticus, A. flavicollis and Glis glis. Borrelia infection was more frequently observed in Clethrionomys than in Apodemus. Tick xenodiagnosis was used to determine the infectivity of rodents. The infection rate in licks fed on Clethrionomys was higher than that in licks fed on Apodemus, but Apodemus yielded more infected ticks than Clethrionomys because of a better tick moulting success. Xenodiagnostic ticks were placed into BSK medium to obtain isolates. Isolates from rodents and rodent-feeding ticks were all identified as B. afzelii. The follow-up of the infectivity status of repeatedly recaptured rodents clearly demonstrated that these hosts remained infective for ticks during winter till the following spring. Comparing C. glareolus and A. sylvaticus, each rodent species showed different host infection, different host infectivity and contributed differently to the moulting success of feeding ticks. These factors influence differentially the pattern of transmission of B. afzelii from Clethrionomys voles and Apodemus mice to I. ricinus ticks.