Fig. 9: BPSL1038 does not exhibit toxin-like properties.
a ugt-29 is expressed only mildly in worms fed with E. coli bearing the rBPSL1038 construct ± IPTG over 48 h. b Representative fluorescence micrographs (×100 magnification) of GFP expression to visualize transcriptional activity of ugt-29 in worms exposed to E. coli (negative control), recombinant protein (rBPSL1038) and B. pseudomallei secretome (positive control) at 24 h and 96 h. Faint expression of GFP was noted for C. elegans ugt-29::gfp exposed to E. coli and rBSL1038 at both time points while significant fluorescence was observed in worms exposed to B. pseudomallei secretome. Fluorescence micrographs of the same 100×magnification were acquired at the same exposure time and gain factor. c Nematode killing curve of worms infected by E. coli bearing the rBPSL1038 construct ± IPTG. The calculated mean-time-to-death (TDmean) is not significantly different between both treatments. Error bars represent mean value ± SD.
