Table 4. Simultaneous expression of OspC, DbpA and DbpB was unable to protect the rpoS mutant from quick clearance ^a.

Clone	No. of sites positive/Total no. of sites examined at post-inoculation hours
	24 hours	48 hours
ΔrpoS/rpoS	6/6	6/6
ΔrpoS/E22	0/6	0/6
ΔrpoS/ospC′	0/6	0/6
ΔrpoS/C′B′A′	0/6	0/6

^aGroups of six SCID mice each received two intradermal/subcutaneous injections of the transformant ΔrpoS/rpoS, ΔrpoS/E22, ΔrpoS/ospC′ or ΔrpoS/C′B′A′. Approximately 10⁵ organisms were administered in each inoculation; two inoculation sites were at least 2 cm apart. Three animals from each group were euthanized at 24 and 48 hour post-inoculation; skin specimens were harvested from inoculation sites and cultured for spirochetes in BSK-H complete medium.