Effects of knockdown of <i>S. flexneri-</i>induced host response genes on bacterial accumulation.

<p>After RNAi knockdown of <i>S. flexneri</i>-induced genes, <i>aco-1, daf-19, hsp-60,</i> plus pCB19 as an RNAi negative control, young adult hermaphrodites were transferred onto lawns of virulent <i>S. flexneri</i> (SFL1520) for 24 h. <b>A:</b> 20 worms were picked off bacterial lawns and disrupted following which appropriate dilutions of each lysate was plated onto LB agar to obtain the bacterial counts. Results represent the means of three independent experimental repeats with standard error (error bars), asterisks indicate statistically significant differences (<i>p<</i>0.005, unpaired <i>t-</i>tests). pCB19 (<b>B</b>), <i>aco-1</i> (<b>C</b>), <i>cct-2</i> (<b>D</b>), <i>daf-19</i> (<b>E</b>) and <i>hsp-60</i> (<b>F</b>) RNAi knockdown animals were transferred onto GFP⁺-tagged SFL1520 for 24 h. Fluorescence was observed using the EVOS digital inverted microscope (AMG) and representative images are shown. Scale bar = 400 µm.