Fig. 4.
Colonisation of the gastrointestinal tract following oral infection with C. burnetii in immunocompetent BALB/c mice. (a) Mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), (b) small Intestines, (c) caecum, (d) colon and (e) stomach were analysed for the presence of C. burnetii DNA by quantitative PCR. Cycle threshold (Ct) data for the C. burnetii com1 gene were normalised to murine Actb (Applied Biosystems, Waltham, MA) and normalised cycle threshold values (ΔCt) were transformed using 2−ΔCt/10−6 [35], and reported as arbitrary quantity units. Individual data points and the mean (bar) are shown for mice receiving either NM (•), CM-SC1 (■) or GP-CO1 (▲) via OG. Open symbols represent values below the limit of detection. No C. burnetii DNA was detected in any PBS control mice (data not shown).