FIG 4.
Role of MetQ in adherence to cervical epithelial cells. Adherence and invasion of ME180 (A) and tCX (B) human cervical epithelial cells by the N. gonorrhoeae 1291 wild-type (WT), metQ knockout (ΔmetQ), and complemented (C-metQ) strains. Data represent the average percent adherence or invasion for triplicate samples as a percentage of that for the inoculum and are shown relative to the results obtained with the wild-type strain (the results for the wild type, set at 100%, are 2.9 × 105 adherent CFU and 1.1 × 104 invasive CFU for ME180 cells and 5.5 × 106 adherent CFU and 1.3 × 105 invasive CFU for tCX cells). Error bars represent ±1 standard deviation. ***, P ≤ 0.001 for the ΔmetQ strain relative to the wild type, using a two-tailed Student's t test. Experiments were performed on at least three occasions, and representative results are shown.