Common Ancestry of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Strains from North America and Europe

Ten atypical European Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Borrelia spp.) strains were genetically characterized, and the diversity was compared to that encountered among related Borrelia spp. from North America. Phylogenetic analyses of a limited region of the genome and of the whole genome extend existing knowledge about borrelial diversity reported earlier in Europe and the United States. Our results accord with the evidence that North American and European strains may have a common ancestry.