Figure 2

Temporal expression of the 10 TFs during the developmental cycle of W. chondrophila. Samples (equal volume) of infected Vero cells were harvested at different times p.i. and analysed by qRT-PCR (a–c) or by immunoblotting using specific polyclonal antibodies to the TFs (d–f). The transcript abundance (%) during the developmental cycle (early (blue shading), mid (green) and late (yellow)) was determined for each TF (a–c). The data are shown as mean values±standard deviation of three independent experiments. Most of the genes show a mid-phase transcript profile (a, b) except for euo and atoC, which exhibit a late-phase transcript profile (c). The TF abundance (%, d and e) was quantified by normalization of the signal detected on the blot (f) according to the number of bacteria/well defined by qPCR. Most of the TFs accumulated steadily along the progression of the developmental cycle (d). Euo and DnaA1 exhibited a peak in abundance at 8 h and 24 h, respectively (e). Note that we could not unambiguously detect DnaA3 by immunoblotting and thus omitted it from this analysis.