Genes were inactivated by ligating the

kanamycin resistance cassette (kanR), from pUC4Kan, into suitable restriction sites within the reading frame. kanR does not prevent transcriptional read through when in the same orientation as the target gene. When cloning into the pTOPO plasmid, kanR present in the cloning vector was inactivated by digestion with NcoI and end-filling of the DNA ends with Klenow enzyme and dNTPs. Following re-ligation the plasmid was transformed into E. coli DH5α. Genes HI0144 (nanK) and HI0145 (nanE) were amplified together using the primers 0145for and 0143rev (Table 1) and each gene Selleckchem Baf-A1 was then inactivated independently by insertion of kanR at NruI and BglII sites Cell Cycle inhibitor respectively. For nanA (HI0142), insertion of kanR was achieved following partial digestion with Mfe1 and siaR (HI0143) was inactivated by inserting kanR at an MfeI site. Table 1 Oligonucleotide primers used in this study. Selleck SBE-��-CD primer Sequence (5′-3′)   primer Sequence (5′-3′) 0140for CTGCAATTAAATGGCTGTGG   0140rev GCAATTGTGTCATTCGCATC 0141for TCAGTTGTTGGGCTGCAC   0141rev CAGCAACTGCGCCTTCTA nanAfor TCCGCCATAATATCGACAAA   nanArev TTTGCTTTTGCAAGCTGTTC 0143 for AATTGCCGATACGATTTTGC   0143rev TATCTTCTTCGCCCTGCACT 0144for TGCGTTGTTTAGCACTAG

  0144rev GCTAATCCCACACTGCCA 0145 for TTGCCAACCTGTCGATGA   0145rev CCCTCAGCCATCACAAAACA 0146for TGTTCTTGCCGCTGATTATG   0146rev CATTTTCGGCAGCATCTTTT 0147for GGAGTGAAGAACTCGCCAAC   0147rev TCACGCATTGCTTTGATTT 0148for TTTTTCAGCGAACGCACA   0148rev TCAGTTTCACCGCCAATCA FRDL CCCTCAATTTGGTTTAAATCCTG   FRDR CCATGGTCACGGTTATCAAGA HI1045L CAAGAAGTGCTTTCTCAAATTCAA   HI0145R TTTATCCATTGGGCCATCAT HI0146L TCTGACTTTACCTTTGCAGAAT   HI0146R AATACTGCCGCTTCAGGGTA HI0143L AAATCGCAAAACAAAATGGTG   HI0143R CGGGGGAACGCAAACTAT crpA GCAACTCAACGAGATCCC   crpD GACCAATCCTGTCTTCCT nagE GAACCGCCCACATATAAG   nagF TGCGTTGTTTAGCACTAG Mutant H. influenzae strains were constructed following transformation [21] of strain RM118, NTHi 375 or 486 using the appropriate plasmids that had been linearized medroxyprogesterone by restriction endonuclease digestion. The resulting mutant strains were confirmed as correct after growth on BHI/kanamycin and by

both PCR and restriction digestion analyses. Analysis of LPS by electrophoresis Bacterial lysates were prepared from cells grown overnight on BHI plates to which Neu5Ac had been added. Lysates were then analyzed by tricine-SDS-PAGE and staining with silver as described previously [22]. Serum bactericidal assay Bacteria cultured on BHI plates to which Neu5Ac has been added were assayed for killing by pooled human serum, as described previously [2]. RT-PCR analysis Bacteria were cultured in BHI or CDM medium, with or without added Neu5Ac. When the OD600 reached 0.3 (CDM) or 0.6 (BHI), 1 ml aliquots of cells were collected and added directly to 2 ml RNA Protect Bacterial Reagent (Qiagen) and RNA was extracted using a SV Total RNA Isolation Kit (Promega).