Figure 7
Denaturation profiles can distinguish three major Lyme spirochete species. Amplification of 287 bp amplicons from B. burgdorferi, B. afzelii and B. garinii by real-time PCR using conserved primers was followed by a denaturation profile analysis. SNPs in the molecular beacon-binding region of B. burgdorferi, B. afzelii and B. garinii resulted in at least 4°C melting temperature difference between the species such that RecA3 molecular beacon was able to distinguish all three Borrelia species when first derivative analysis of the denaturation profile was conducted.