TABLE 1.

Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study

Bacterial strain or plasmid	Descriptiona	Reference or source
Escherichia coli strains
E. coli DH5α	F− φ80dlacZ Δ(lacZYA-argF) U169 deoRsupE44ΔlacU169 (φ80lacZΔM15) hsdR17 recA1 endA1 (rK− mK+) supE44gyrA96 thi-1 gyrA69 relA1	81
E. coli DH5α (pEKEx2)	E. coli DH5α carrying the shuttle vector pEKEx2	This study
E. coli DH5α (pEKEx2_mCherryEA)	E. coli DH5α carrying a derivative of the shuttle vector pEKEx2 for IPTG-inducible expression of the mCherryEA gene	This study
E. coli TOP10	F− mcrA Δ(mrr-hsdRMS-mcrBC) φ80lacZΔM15 ΔlacX74 recA1 araD139 Δ(ara-leu)7697 galU galK λ− rpsL(Strr) endA1 nupG	Invitrogen
E. coli MG1655	F− λ− ilvG-rfb-50rpH-1	82
E. coli MG1655 (pXMJ19)	E. coli MG1655 carrying the vector pXMJ19	This study
E. coli MG1655 (pXMJ19_mCherryEA)	E. coli MG1655 carrying a derivative of pXMJ19 for IPTG-inducible mCherryEA expression	This study
E. coli TK2309	F− thi rha lacZ nagA trkD1 trkA405 kdp::Tn10	83
E. coli TK2309 (pXMJ19_mCherryEA)	E. coli TK2309 carrying a derivative of pXMJ19 for IPTG-inducible mCherryEA expression	This study
Plasmids
pEKEx2	Expression vector; ptac lacIq Kmr	84
pXMJ19	Expression vector; ptac lacIq Camr	85
pEKEx2_mCherryEA	pEKEx2 derivative for IPTG-inducible mCherryEA gene expression	This study
pXMJ19_mCherryEA	pXMJ19 derivative for IPTG-inducible mCherryEA gene expression	This study

^aStr, streptomycin; Km, kanamycin; Cam, chloramphenicol; ^r, resistance.