Fig. 2

Rsp activation acts in iron-independent manner. a Relative expression of cntK, cntA and cntE genes in the rsp mutant strain relative to USA300 JE2 strain under different metal conditions: rich media (TSB), iron-depleted media (DIP = TSB + dipyridyl 400 μM) and iron-repleted media (DIP + 50 μM FeSO₄) were assessed by RT-qPCR. b Complementation of Rsp. Relative expression of cntK, cntA and cntE genes in the rsp mutant strain with an empty plasmid pTZN10 and a plasmid expressing rsp (pRsp) relative to USA300 JE2 with the empty plasmid were assessed by RT-qPCR in (B1) Iron-depleted media (DIP = TSB + dipyridyl 400 μM). (B2) Iron-repleted media (DIP + 50 μM FeSO₄). The bars represent the means of relative expression from at least three independent experiments. The error bars show standard errors of the means. Statistical differences were determined by Mann-Whitney U Test. (*P < 0.05; n.s. = not significant)