Figure 6. BbCRASP-2 mutant B. burgdorferi express other BbCRASP genes at similar levels to the wild type spirochetes.

The relative expression levels of BbCRASP-1, -2, -3 and -5 were examined in the BbCRASP-2 mutant and wild type spirochetes in vitro and in vivo by quantitative RT-PCR, and are represented as copies of gene per 1000 copies of flaB transcripts. Total RNA was isolated from B. burgdorferi isolates grown in culture (10⁷/ml), as well as multiple tissues of B. burgdorferi-infected mice following 12 days of infection. The experiments were replicated thrice, and bars represent the mean measurements ± SEM from four representative quantitative PCR measurements. Differences between BbCRASP transcripts in the wild type and mutant were not statistically significant (P>0.05, n = 4).