FIG 2.

Immunoreactivity of 22 E. chaffeensis proteins and TRP120 comparison by ELISA. IVTT-expressed proteins were probed with a panel of convalescent-phase sera from eight HME patients. A normal human serum control did not recognize any of these proteins (OD₆₅₀ < 0.1). ELISA OD₆₅₀ values represent the mean optical density reading from three wells (± standard deviations) after subtracting negative-control (IVTT reaction with empty plasmid template) reading. A sample OD₆₅₀ of ≥0.2 was considered positive and ≥0.5 a strong positive. The top 18 proteins with mean OD₆₅₀ of ≥1.0 from multiple sera were considered immunodominant and proteins with mean OD₆₅₀ of 0.5 to 1.0 subdominant.