FIG. 1.

Temporal analysis of B. burgdorferi B31 Erp and OspC expression in feeding nymphal ticks. Naive BALB/c mice were infested with B31-MI-16-infected nymphal ticks. Ticks were removed at various time intervals during feeding, examined at drop-off (96 h), or analyzed at various points after the conclusion of blood feeding by double-labeling immunofluorescence for B. burgdorferi expressing Erp (A to C) or OspC (D) proteins. Bars, mean percentages of Erp- or OspC-positive bacteria counted in 25 random fields; error bars, 1 standard deviation of the means. (A) ErpA/I/N; (B) ErpL; (C) ErpQ; (D) OspC.