Transcriptional Response within Inoculation Eschar

. Given this, analysis of the survival strategies used by the bacterium within infected skin is critical for our understanding of rickettsiosis. within eschars also involves adaptation to osmotic stress, changes in cell surface proteins and up-regulation of some virulence factors. Interestingly, in contrast to down-regulated transcripts, we noticed that up-regulated ones rather exhibit a small nucleotide size, most of them being exclusive for the spotted fever group rickettsiae.Because eschar is a site for rickettsial introduction, the pattern of rickettsial gene expression observed here may define how rickettsiae counteract the host defense