Internal Laboratory Quality Control: Specific Primers for the Genus Borrelia, Borrelia afzelii, and Borrelia garinii

Our laboratory has the ability to cultivate Borreliae that cause human disease, B. burgdorferi, B. afzelii, and B. garinii. This ability requires a quick and effective means to perform quality control on a daily basis. Amplification primers were designed to specifically separate laboratory control strains using genetic information from Genbank. Using these primers, Borrelia afzelii ATCC 51992, and Borrelia garinii ATCC 51991 can specifically be distinguished from the Borrelia burgdorferi ATCC 35210 strain used in the laboratory. Primers were also developed to identify Borrelia species using primers that detect Borrelia, based on genus designation. These tools are useful in day-to-day quality control monitoring. Their use fits the workflow in our laboratory which specializes solely in Borrelia culture.