Fig 2. Temporal monitoring of P_flaB-luc and P_ospC-luc expressing B. burgdorferi during experimental infection.

Balb/c mice were infected with P_flaB-luc (A) or P_ospC-luc (B) reporter strains at 10⁵ by ventral intradermal infection, treated with D-luciferin and imaged by IVIS at 0, 4, 7, 10, 14 and 21 days post-infection. A background control mouse was included in each group that was infected with luminescent B. burgdorferi but not treated with D-luciferin; such mouse is shown in the far left position of each image. D-luciferin treatment or the lack thereof is designated by a + or -, respectively. A 10 minute exposure was utilized to obtain images. Normalization to subtract background was performed per strain for all time points displayed in the color spectrum position under the images. P_flaB-luc and P_ospC-luc images are set on individual scales to display the full spectrum of bioluminescence. (A) P_flaB-luc images were normalized to radiance range of 6.95x10³-1.83x10⁵ p/sec/cm²/sr. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s Multiple Comparison test was performed to determine significant difference resulting in a p-value of 0.0132. A p-value < 0.05 is considered significant. (B) P_ospC-luc images were normalized to radiance range of 2.38x10³-1.1x10⁵ p/sec/cm²/sr. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s Multiple Comparison test was performed to determine significant difference resulting in a p-value of 0.0009. A p-value < 0.05 is considered significant.