Figure 1.

Relationship between Treponema pallidum genome copies in extracted DNA, rTMA time on Aptima assay, and ability to recover complete genome. T. pallidum genome copies, as determined by tp47 quantitative polymerase chain reaction, were highly correlated with rTMA time taken directly from the Hologic Aptima assay (r = −0.78). Complete genomes were defined as having <5.3% missing data in the genome (green), while incomplete genomes had >5.3% missing data (red). We did not attempt capture on specimens that had <10 copies/µL extracted DNA, based on prior experience (light blue). Abbreviation: TMA, transcription-mediated assay.