Table 1.

Primers used in this study

Purpose	Name	Sequence (5′–3′)	Size (bp)*
Cloning into pCRII-TOPO-vector†	tprG-For	CGCGTACCCACTTCTCTCTC	287
	tprJ-For	AAAGAAAAAGGATTTCCGCA	284
	tprE-For	CGGGATGAGGATCAGTTTAC	306
	tprE/G/J-Rev	GTGGCAGAGCCAGTTAGCTT
	tprF-For	GTGCGTGGCATTCAGGAAAA	519
	tprI-For	CCTTCCGGCGGTTCCTC	504
	tprF/I-Rev	ACTGACCTGCGGAGTGAGTA
Cloning into pGlow-TOPO-vector†	tprG-For	CGCGTACCCACTTCTCTCTC	247
	tprJ-For	AAAGAAAAAGGATTTCCGCA	244
	tprG/J-Glow-Rev	TCATTCCCCCGCTCGCTCCT
	tprE-For	CGGGATGAGGATCAGTTTAC	266
	tprE-Glow-Rev	TCATTCCCCCGCTCGCTCCTA
	tprF/I-For	CTGGTATTTCAGCCAGTCT	209
	tprF/I-Glow-Rev	TCATTCACTCCCCCTCCT
	t47-Sense	CGTGTGGTATCAACTATGG	313
	t47-Antisense	TCAACCGTGTACTCAGTGC
	lacPro-Sense	GTGAGCGCAACGCAATTAAT	130
	lacPro-Antisense	TCATAGCTGTTTCCTGTGTG
Sequencing	M13 Rev‡	CAGGAAACAGCTATGAC
	M13 For‡	GTAAAACGACGGCCAG
	GFP Rev§	GGGTAAGCTTTCCGTATGTACG
	T7 promoter§	TAATACGACTCACTATAGGG
RT-PCR/real-time PCR	GFP-Sense	CTACCTGTTCCATGGCCAAC	262
	GFP-Antisense¶	TGTGTCCGAGAATGTTTCCA
	Ampr-Sense	GCTATGTGGCGCGGTATTAT	223
	Ampr-Antisense¶	GGTTAGCTCCTTCGGTCCTC
	t47-Sense	CGTGTGGTATCAACTATGG	313
	t47-Antisense	TCAACCGTGTACTCAGTGC
	tprE-Sense	CGGCAAAGTCCTGTTCGGCAA	358
	tprE-Antisense	GCTCAACACGCTGTCGTATAGTA
	tprG-Sense	GAAGGTGTTCATTACCGACCCT	359
	tprG-Antisense	TTGTAGCCTCAGCCGTAAGCTT
	tprJ-Sense	TCTTCACACCCCGCAGGGAA	364
	tprJ-Antisense	CGTTATTTCCGTTCGCATCATC
	Sea 81-4|| tprJ-Sense	CCTACAATGTCGCCTTCGAT	277
	tprJ-Antisense	CAATGTGCCCTGAGGAACC

^*Amplicon sizes were calculated according to the genome sequence of the Nichols strain (Fraser et al., 1998), without taking into account variability within the poly-G repeats.

^†In each set of grouped primers, different forward (For) primers were used with the same reverse (Rev) primer.

^‡Used to sequence inserts in the pCRII-TOPO vector (Invitrogen).

^§Used to sequence inserts in the pGlow-TOPO vector (Invitrogen).

^¶This primer was used both as gene-specific primer for reverse transcription and as reverse primer for PCR reactions.

^||The Sea 81-4 strain carries a hybrid tprG/J allele in the tprJ locus (Giacani et al., 2005a, b).