Figure 2. Bacterial loads at the site of inoculation.

The site of inoculation from C3H/HeN mice inoculated with wild-type, Δp66, p66^cc (clones representing both orientations of the gentamicin resistance cassette with respect to p66) or p66^cp bacteria at a dose of 10⁵ spirochetes injected subcutaneously was collected and analyzed for bacterial load by qPCR. Tissues were collected from mice at days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 post-inoculation. Sham inoculated mice were used as a control at days 1, 2, 3 and 10. Results from qPCR are represented as B. burgdorferi genomes per 10⁴ mouse genomes, with the limit of detection being 6 B. burgdorferi genomes. Symbols represent the infection status for each mouse based on culture results: filled symbol = murine infection detected by culture, unfilled symbol = murine infection not detected by culture. Mean bacterial load is indicated with error bars representing standard deviation.