Figure 1

Functionality of ELISA-identified peptide antigens in the peptide microarray. Reactivity of peptide antigens of 11 Chlamydia species with homologous, heterologous and naïve pooled mouse sera are shown. All peptide antigens had been previously found reactive by microtiter plate ELIASs using the homologous mouse sera³⁴. Peptides were named by three-letter Chlamydia species acronyms and the strain, followed by source protein and the amino acid positions of the peptide in the protein. Peptides for the microarray format were synthesized with N-terminal KKK (lysine-lysine-lysine), Ttds (trioxatridecan-succinamic acid) and SGSG (serine-glycine-serine-glycine) linkers followed by the specific sequence and G (glycine-COOH), and covalently linked to the 3-D epoxy chip surface. Each peptide was spotted 2–3 times per microarray, and each microarray was tested 2–3 times with identical sera. An average relative spot intensity (RSI) of ≥0.10 for all spots was used as parameter for functionality (reactivity) of each peptide antigen in the microarray. Abbreviations: C. Chlamydia, Cab Chlamydia abortus, Cav Chlamydia avium, Cca Chlamydia caviae, Cfe Chlamydia felis, Cga Chlamydia gallinacea, Cmu Chlamydia muridarum, Cpe Chlamydia pecorum, Cpn, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Cps Chlamydia psittaci, Csu Chlamydia suis, Ctr Chlamydia trachomatis.