Essential factor for Lyme disease transmission identified

Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, hitchhikes in ticks for dissemination to mammalian hosts -- including humans. A new article identifies HrpA, an RNA helicase, as a crucial player in the transmission from ticks to mammals. Scientists have analyzed the molecular function of the HrpA protein and explored its role in the bacterium's complicated life cycle, in particular for transmission of the pathogen.

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