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. 2024 Feb 6:15:1330914.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1330914. eCollection 2024.

Evolutionary dynamics and geographical dispersal of Borrelia lusitaniae

Valentina Cirkovic  1 , Gorana Veinovic  1 , Daliborka Stankovic  2 , Darko Mihaljica  1 , Ratko Sukara  1 , Snezana Tomanovic  1
Affiliations

Evolutionary dynamics and geographical dispersal of Borrelia lusitaniae

Valentina Cirkovic et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

Background: Borrelia lusitaniae is a species within the complex Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, associated with lizards as reservoirs and Ixodes ricinus as its main vector. Borrelia lusitaniae is predominantly distributed in Central and Southeast Europe, and in countries of the Mediterranean basin, such as Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, and Italy where this spirochete appears to infect vector ticks more frequently than other genospecies. Evolution of this zoonotic tick-borne microparasite is shaped by different environmental factors. Comprehensive phylogenetic analysis may give insight into how B. lusitaniae spreads to new geographic locations.

Aim: We applied Bayesian statistical methods to B. lusitaniae multilocus sequence typing (MLST) data to study the migration routes of B. lusitaniae and its potential for further spread.

Results: The discrete phylogeographic analysis placed origins of B. lusitaniae in Southeast Europe and identified at least two introductions of B. lusitaniae from Europe to North Africa. Estimated effective reproductive potential (Re), as a key indicator for a pathogen spread, suggested potential for further spread.

Conclusion: The results of this study can provide beneficial information about the potential for further spread of B. lusitaniae in Europe and North Africa and estimation of necessity for the development of strategies to monitor and control Lyme borreliosis.

Keywords: Borrelia lusitaniae; Ixodes ricinus; lizards; migratory birds; phylodynamic; phylogeography.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bayesian phylogenetic tree of B. lusitaniae using 63 sequences of seven housekeeping B. lusitaniae loci. The numbers in bifurcations indicate posterior probabilities. Cluster A consisted of 38 European MLST isolates, while cluster B was composed 25 strains from Portugal, and North Africa (Algeria and Morocco). AUT, Austria; BGR, Bulgaria; CRO, Croatia; DZA, Algeria; LVA, Latvia; PRT, Portugal; SER, Serbia; SVK, Slovakia; UKR, Ukraine.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogeographic analysis of 59 concatenated sequences of seven housekeeping B. lusitaniae loci performed in BEAST 1.10.4 software. Maximum clade credibility (MCC) tree was visualized in FigTree 1.4.4. The branches are colored based on the most probable location of the descendent nodes. The numbers on the internal nodes indicate significant posterior probabilities. AUT, Austria; BGR, Bulgaria; CRO, Croatia; DZA, Algeria; LVA, Latvia; PRT, Portugal; SER, Serbia; SVK, Slovakia; UKR, Ukraine.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Birth-death skyline plot based on the seven housekeeping B. lusitaniae loci. BDSKY model, implemented in BEAST2 v2.6.5, was used. Cluster A consisted of 35 European MLST isolates, while cluster B was composed of 24 strains from Portugal, and North Africa (Algeria and Morocco). The red line delineates the cut-off value of Re=1. Shaded area represents 95% confidence intervals of Re estimates over time. X-axis represents time in years; Y-axis represents Re value.
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