Fig. 5

a: Expression profile and secondary structure of R. conorii 6S RNA. A. Expression of 6S RNA during the infection of HMECs and tick cells in vitro. HMECs and AAE2 cells were infected with R. conorii (MOI = 50) and total RNA was extracted at different time interval between 0.5 to 24 h post infection. Total RNA was DNaseI treated, reverse transcribed, and expression of 6S RNA was assessed by Taqman based quantitative PCR using 6S RNA specific primers and probe, and 16S rRNA as internal control. The data was calculated using expression at 0.5 h as baseline control. 6S RNA was significantly upregulated (p < 0.05) at all time point during the infection of HMECs, while steady state expression with no significant change was observed during tick cell infection. Data from three independent replicates is presented as mean ± SEM. b. Predicted secondary structure of 6S RNA. The secondary structure of R. conorii 6S RNA predicted by RNAfold web server (University of Vienna) resembles the conserved structure observed for most bacterial 6S RNAs. The color coding on bases indicate base pairing probability of 0 to 1 (purple to red)