Fig. 6

Impact of the removal of cross-reacting anti-E. coli antibodies on B. afzelii infection. a The levels of IgG specific to B. afzelii proteins were measured by semi-quantitative ELISA in pre-adsorbed sera of B. afzelii-infected mice immunized with E. coli, non-pre-adsorbed E. coli + B. afzelii or PBS + B. afzelii sera. One-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test (*** p < 0.001; 4 technical replicates per sample). b,c The load of spirochetes of B. afzelii were measured in unfed nymphs microinjected with pre-adsorbed E. coli + B. afzelii sera combined with B. afzelii spirochetes and compared to nymphs that received B. afzelii spirochetes alone or combined with the non-pre-adsorbed E. coli + B. afzelii, PBS + B. afzelii sera. After microinjection, ticks were incubated for b 2 h or c 6 h. n = 6 nymphs/condition. Kruskal–Wallis test