Fig. 1
The OMPDC gene was essential to the proliferation of Toxoplasma gondii in vitro. a–c The detection of T. gondii proliferation in the indicated groups by an immunofluorescence assay at 24 h post infection: a HFF cells infected with the indicated tachyzoites with or without uracil supplement were observed under a fluorescence microscope, b the number of tachyzoites per PV was counted, c percentages of PVs containing different numbers (1, 2, 4, 8 or 16) of the indicated T. gondii strains. d Proliferation of the RH-WT and RH-Δompdc strains was compared with plaque assay. e Areas (μm2) of the plaques formed by the RH-WT and RH-Δompdc strains supplemented with or without uracil. Results are representative of three independent experiments. Data were analyzed by ANOVA (b, e) and by two-way ANOVA (c) with Tukey’s test. Asterisks indicate significant difference at ****P < 0.0001; ns, not significant. Abbreviations: ANOVA, Analysis of variance; RH-Δompdc, OMPDC gene knockout strain; PV, parasitophorous vacuole; RH-WT, reciprocal hemizygous wild-type strain