Tuesday, July 1, 2025 7/1/2025

Using Fluorescence Nanoscopy to Study RNA Localization in Borrelia burgdorferi, the Spirochete that Causes Lyme Disease

Award Number: R21AI141935
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/15/2019
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2021

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Using Fluorescence Nanoscopy to Study RNA Localization in Borrelia burgdorferi, the Spirochete that Causes Lyme Disease - Project Summary/Abstract Approximately 300,000 cases of Lyme disease are diagnosed each year in the United States. Lyme is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, a microorganism that cycles in nature between ticks and vertebrate hosts. Patterns of gene expression change dramatically as this bacteria navigates the different environments in its different hosts. Gene expression levels may be determined by the spatial arrangement of RNA transcripts in the bacterial cells. We propose to study this relationship in B. burgdorferi. B. burgdorferi cells are very long but incredibly narrow: less than ~200 nm in diameter. The narrow width limits the application of conventional fluorescence microscopy to study subcellular spatial arrangements of transcripts within these cells. The phenomenon of diffraction limits the resolution of a conventional microscope to approximately half the wavelength of light used, thereby obscuring biological structure and process occurring on length scales smaller than ~250 nm. Fortunately, the recent emergence of fluorescence nanoscopy techniques now provide near molecular-level resolution and allows the study of biological systems at the nanoscale. The overall aim of our work is to determine the spatial arrangement of a diverse set of RNA transcripts in B. burgdorferi cells. To test the hypothesize that RNA localization plays a role in the expression and turnover of transcripts in B. burgdorferi, including those that are involved in its virulence and pathogenicity, we propose to use fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and STED nanoscopy to characterize the spatial arrangement of diverse transcripts encoding gene products that localize in different parts of the cell, have different turnover rates, and have diverse functions. Characterization of a set of diverse transcripts and advances to a custom built nanoscope to increase three dimensional resolution and multicolor imaging are proposed. Our elucidation of the localization patterns of these transcripts will increase the general understanding of the roles of RNA localization in gene expression and RNA turnover in bacteria and provide insight into the role RNA localization may play in the enzootic cycle of this pathogen.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = -$22,351 )
2022	2020	PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGE	2 ANDREWS ROAD	LEWISTON	ME	04240	ANDROSCOGGIN	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	2	5/20/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$22,351
														Subtotal = -$22,351

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $138,900 )
2020	2020	PRESIDENT & TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGE	2 ANDREWS RD	LEWISTON	ME	04240	ANDROSCOGGIN	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	2	4/3/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$138,900
														Subtotal = $138,900

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $233,739 )
2019	2019	PRESIDENT & TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGE	2 ANDREWS RD	LEWISTON	ME	04240	ANDROSCOGGIN	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	1	5/15/2019	NEW	$233,739
														Subtotal = $233,739

Grand Total All Awards = $350,288

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Using Fluorescence Nanoscopy to Study RNA Localization in Borrelia burgdorferi, the Spirochete that Causes Lyme Disease

Award Number: R21AI141935

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/15/2019

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2021

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer