Mark S. Hanson

TL;DR: The genome of the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi B31, the aetiologic agent of Lyme disease, contains a linear chromosome of 910,725 base pairs and at least 17 linear and circular plasmids with a combined size of more than 533,000 base pairs, which suggest their limited metabolic capacities reflect convergent evolution by gene loss from more metabolically competent progenitors.

TL;DR: The results validate the use of a genomic approach for the identification of novel microbial targets that elicit a protective immune response and may play a role in the development of improved vaccines against S. pneumoniae.

TL;DR: Improved antibody responses were observed in heterogeneous mouse strains that vary in their immune responsiveness to OspA and sensitivity to BCG growth, and expression of protective antigens as chimeric membrane-associated lipoproteins on recombinant BCG may result in the generation of new candidate vaccines against Lyme borreliosis and other human or veterinary diseases where humoral immunity is the protective response.

TL;DR: Findings support a role for DBPA in the immunoprophylaxis of Lyme disease and suggest that DbpA vaccines have the potential to eliminate early-stage B. burgdorferi infections.

TL;DR: Previous PspA immunization studies showing cross-protection against heterologous serotypes of S. pneumoniae are confirmed and a potential for rBCG-based PSPA vaccines to elicit protective humoral responses against pneumococcal disease in humans is demonstrated.