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. 2013 Sep 30;8(9):e77122. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0077122

Figure 6. Assessment of 63 bp deletion in the spa-sarS intergenic region on the flanking genes by qRT-PCR analysis.

Figure 6

RNA extracts were prepared following entry to stationary phase (Materials and Methods). RNA was obtained from the various strains indicated and experiments normalized to 16S RNA followed by comparison to NRS77 (8325) fixed as reference control. * Indicates significant difference determined by Student’s two tail t test using three independent sample determinations. Pairwise comparisons revealed a pronounced reduction (75%) in sarS mRNA in strains 8325-4 (sequenced in this study) and SH1000, both harboring the deletion, compared with NRS77 with wild type intergenic sequence (P< 0.0001, respectively). No significant changes in spa mRNA were noted for 8325-4 or SH1000. No significant changes were observed with RNA obtained during exponential phase growth of the same cultures. All strains used for analysis gave clear zones of hemolysis on sheep blood agar and were agrA sequence 7A [16].