@article {783,
	title = {Antigen polymorphism in Borrelia hermsii, a clonal pathogenic bacterium.},
	journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A},
	volume = {98},
	year = {2001},
	month = {2001 Dec 18},
	pages = {15038-43},
	abstract = {The relapsing fever spirochete, Borrelia hermsii, escapes immune selection by alternating expression of surface lipoprotein alleles. The switch results from a duplicative transposition of one of several surface lipoprotein-encoding nucleotide sequences into the singular expression site. These nucleotide sequences constitute a large gene family whose diversity originated, in some cases, before the major divergences of Borrelia species. We have examined the B. hermsii vsp subfamily of alleles, which are carried on linear plasmids within each cell and maintained in several diverse copies as an antigenic archive. Each encodes a distinct serotype-specific protein. We sequenced more than 90\% of the alleles within a single strain-B. hermsii strain HS1. A preponderance of allelic mosaicism suggests that intragenic recombination, coupled with selection imposed by host immune response, has driven diversification of the archived ensemble of vsp alleles. The recombinational diversification of vsp alleles generates change in the associated serotypes of the magnitude (30-40\% amino acid differentiation) necessary for overcoming cross-reactivity of neutralizing antibodies. We conclude that evolution of vsp has occurred by punctuated occurrence of allelic differentiation, rather than by gradual selection of incremental point mutations that do not meet the threshold for antigenic diversity.},
	keywords = {Antigens, Bacterial, Base Sequence, Borrelia, DNA, Bacterial, Polymorphism, Genetic, Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid},
	issn = {0027-8424},
	doi = {10.1073/pnas.071042098},
	author = {Rich, S M and Sawyer, S A and Barbour, A G}
}
@article {796,
	title = {Mosaic structure of plasmids from natural populations of Escherichia coli.},
	journal = {Genetics},
	volume = {143},
	year = {1996},
	month = {1996 Jul},
	pages = {1091-100},
	abstract = {The distribution of plasmids related to the fertility factor F was examined in the ECOR reference collection of Escherichia coli. Probes specific for four F-related genes were isolated and used to survey the collection by DNA hybridization. To estimate the genetic diversity of genes in F-like plasmids, DNA sequences were obtained for four plasmid genes. The phylogenetic relationships among the plasmids in the ECOR strains is very different from that of the strains themselves. This finding supports the view that plasmid transfer has been frequent within and between the major groups of ECOR. Furthermore, the sequences indicate that recombination between genes in plasmids takes place at a considerably higher frequency than that observed for chromosomal genes. The plasmid genes, and by inference the plasmids themselves, are mosaic in structure with different regions acquired from different sources. Comparison of gene sequences from a variety of naturally occurring plasmids suggested a plausible donor of some of the recombinant regions as well as implicating a chi site in the mechanism of genetic exchange. The relatively high rate of recombination in F-plasmid genes suggests that conjugational gene transfer may play a greater role in bacterial population structure than previously appreciated.},
	keywords = {Bacterial Proteins, Base Sequence, DNA Helicases, DNA, Bacterial, DNA-Binding Proteins, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli Proteins, Evolution, Molecular, Membrane Proteins, Molecular Sequence Data, Mosaicism, Nucleic Acid Hybridization, Phylogeny, Plasmids, Polymorphism, Genetic, Proteins, Recombination, Genetic, Repressor Proteins, RNA-Binding Proteins, Trans-Activators},
	issn = {0016-6731},
	author = {Boyd, E F and Hill, C W and Rich, S M and Hartl, D L}
}
