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Fig. 2 | Microbiome

Fig. 2

From: The tick endosymbiont Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii and selenoproteins are essential for the growth of Rickettsia parkeri in the Gulf Coast tick vector

Fig. 2

Total bacterial load, Francisella-like endosymbiont (FLE) load, and Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii (CMM) load in tick tissues (midguts, salivary glands, ovaries) from R. parkeri-infected (Rp+) and uninfected (Rp−) A. maculatum female ticks. The ticks from both Rp+ and Rp− colonies were infested on two separate sheep for blood feeding and 5–15 ticks were removed from the host on day 5 post-infestation. Within 2 h of tick removal from the hosts, the ticks were dissected to isolate their tissues (midgut, salivary glands, and ovarian tissues) and each midgut or salivary gland was individually placed in separate vials and five tick ovaries were pooled in a vial and stored in RNAlater before RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis. Total bacterial loads and FLE and CMM copies/ tick were estimated by qPCR with reference to GAPDH in the tick midgut tissues (a, b, c), salivary gland tissues (d, e, f) and ovaries (g, h, i) in the Rp+ ticks (black bars) and the Rp− ticks (gray bars). Rp, R. parkeri; OV, ovarian tissues; Mg, midguts; Sg, salivary glands

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