Figure 4.

Effects of SA (0.15 mM), PHBA (0.4 mM), CA (0.2 mM), PCA (0.2 mM), and HA (0.5 mM) on the expression of T3SS-related genes in MS2. MS2 cells were cultured in LS5 medium added with optimal concentrations of the tested compounds or DMSO. RNA was collected at OD₆₀₀ of 0.8. The cDNA levels of different samples were quantified by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) using a SYBR Green Master Mix. A housekeeping gene atpD was used as an endogenous control for data analysis. All gene expression under compound treatment or no solvent (MS2) was compared with that of MS2 + DMSO using Student’s t-test analysis (Graphpad Prism 8.4.3). Three independent tests were performed with similar results (ns, no statistical significance, ^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001, and ^****p < 0.0001).