Fig. 7

Construction and phenotyping of ETH2_0411800 knockout parasites. A Schematic representation of the transfection vector used for disrupting the ETH2_0411800 locus. Homology regions from 5′ (5′HR) and 3′ (3′HR) of the ETH2_0411800 locus were ligated to the expression cassette containing the mCherry fluorescent protein fused to DHFR. B The expression of mCherry was determined by fluorescent microscopy. C Representative PCR products from a knockout clone for ETH2_0411800. The oligonucleotides were designed from regions located outside 5′HR and 3′HR and within the ETH2_0411800 locus. D Oocyst output curves and E total oocyst output of knockout parasites. Chicken (n = 3) were infected with 1000 oocysts. HCYA was used as a control. The standard error of the mean (SEM) is presented as an error bar. Unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-tests were conducted, and the significance level was indicated as ****P < 0.0001