Development of a Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay to Detect the Causative Agent of Lyme's Diasease.

Abstract

The tick borne pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi, causative agent of Lyme disease, causes significant morbidity in the surrounding region. Current diagnosis of this disease is reliant on either physical identification of patient symptoms, or the detection of antibodies specific to Borrelia. The purpose of this study is to design and optimize a diagnostic assay to detect presence of B. burgdorferi in ticks utilizing real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PRC) amplification of the bacterial recA chromosomal gene.