Borrelia burgdorferi

Last reviewed 07/2021

Borrelia burgdorferi is the spirochaete that causes Lyme disease. Various features of this organism are as follows:

  • length 10 - 30 micrometres
  • width 0.2 - 0.25 micrometres
  • can be cultured in artificial media - in contrast to Treponema pallidum
  • has a linear chromosome and linear plasmids, in contrast to other bacteria