Figure 1

The cellular levels of SigX in S. mutans during competence induction by CSP and the effects of mecA , clpC or clpP deletion on the stability of SigX and competence. A. Western blot analysis of the cellular levels of SigX in S. mutans strain XT-His1 (wt) using the anti-His antibody. The total protein levels from the cell lysates of this strain are included as an example of protein loading controls detected by Western blotting using the anti-S. mutans antibody. B. Competence induction by CSP and the effects of mecA, clpC or clpP deletion on the transformation efficiency of S. mutans UA159 (wt, black circle), XT-D1 (∆comX, open squares), XT-D4 (∆mecA, open diamonds), XT-D7 (∆clpC, open triangles), XT-D8 (∆clpP, black stars) and GF-Ox (MecA-Ox, open circles). C. Western blot analysis of the effects of mecA, clpC or clpP deletion on the cellular levels of SigX in S. mutans strains XT-His1 (wt), XT-His2 (∆mecA), XT-His3 (∆clpC) and GF-His1 (∆clpP). D. The protein bands representing the cellular levels of SigX in these strains were scanned and the intensities were converted as relative integrated density values (RIDV), which were normalized to a maximum value of 1.0 for each strain.