FIGURE 3.

Effect of inhibition of Tbβ3 expression by tetracycline-inducible RNAi on cell growth. A, Northern blot analysis of Tbβ3 RNAi of BSF and PCF trypanosomes grown in the absence or presence of tetracycline (Tet). Total RNA was subjected to gel electrophoreses before transfer to a nylon membrane and then hybridized with the ³²P-labeled probe corresponding to the Tbβ3 coding sequence (top). Tubulin is shown as a loading control (bottom). The RNA ladder is shown on the left (values in kb). The transcript of Tbβ3, including the 5′- and 3′-UTR was ∼3.7 kb in length. B and C show the growth of BSF and PCF trypanosomes in the absence (white circles) or presence (black circles) of 1 μg/ml tetracycline. Values are means ± S.D. (error bars) (n = 3).