Figure 5.

tprK variable region composition and donor site usage in Treponema pallidum strains with donor site deletion. A, Among Nichols-lineage strains isolated from secondary syphilis lesions, diversity, as measured by the total number of unique V regions detected, is lower in strains bearing a deletion of 9 donor sites (P < .05; Welch's t test). B, As a proportion of total V regions, tprK V regions that incorporate the deleted donor sites are less abundant in strains with a deletion of 9 donor sites. C, Map of predicted donor site usage by strain. Donor sites are arranged relative to genomic coordinates; the x-axis is not to scale. Seven donor sites not found in any strain are excluded from the visualization. Green squares indicate the number of tprK V region sequences in which each donor site is found. Gray squares indicate the sum of use of each donor site across all samples, with darker gray indicating higher frequency. The deleted region is boxed in red in the affected strains.