Restriction enzyme (Thermo Scientific) and T4 DNA ligase (Thermo Scientific) reactions were performed as per the manufacturer’s

instructions at the appropriate temperature where all ligation reactions were incubated at room temperature. DNA purifications were either performed using the GeneJET PCR purification kit (Thermo Scientific) or the GeneJET Gel extraction kit (Thermo Scientific) following the manufacturer’s instructions. Protein purification was carried out using the Ni-NTA Spin Kit (Qiagen) following the manufacturer’s instructions. Construction of the E. amylovora acrD-deficient mutant A 1058-bp fragment located in the acrD gene was amplified using the primer pair acrD_ko_fwd and acrD_ko_rev and verified by click here sequencing. A chloramphenicol cassette flanked by Flp-FRT sites was cut from plasmid pFCM1 and inserted into BamHI-digested pJET.acrD-ko, yielding pJET.acrD-ko.Cm. A 2.2-kb EcoRI fragment cut from pJET.acrD-ko.Cm was ligated into EcoRI-digested pCAM-Km,

yielding the final replacement plasmid pCAM-Km.acrD-Cm. The plasmid was transformed into electrocompetent cells of E. amylovora Ea1189, which subsequently were grown for 3 h at 28°C in dYT broth. Putative mutants were screened for homologous recombination events by testing their antibiotic resistance. Mutants that resulted from single crossover events were identified by their ability to grow on plates containing Km. In order to confirm Fostamatinib chemical structure gene disruption through a double crossover event in Cm-resistant and Km-sensitive colonies, primers acrD_fwd and acrD_rev were designed, which bind upstream and downstream, respectively, of the 1058-bp acrD fragment used for generation of the gene replacement vector. PCRs were done using these locus-specific primers

with primers binding in the Cm cassette (cat_out2, cat_out3, cat_out4, cat_out5). Amplified PCR products were verified by sequencing. The Cm-FRT cassette was finally Racecadotril excised using the temperature-sensitive plasmid pCP20 that carries the yeast Flp recombinase gene [43, 45]. Briefly, Cm-resistant mutants of Ea1189 were transformed with pCP20 and selected at 28°C on LB plates containing Ap. Subsequently, Ap-resistant transformants were streaked on non-selective agar plates and incubated at 43°C for 1 h; following incubation at 28°C for 48–60 h. Single colonies were selected and tested on agar plates containing Cm or Ap to confirm successful excision of the Cm cassette and loss of plasmid pCP20. Construction of acrD overexpression plasmids A 3.06-kb fragment containing acrD was amplified from E. amylovora Ea1189 using the primer pair acrD-ApaI and acrD-SacI. The PCR product was sequenced and further cloned into ApaI-SacI-digested pBlueScript II KS(+) and pBlueScript II SK(+), respectively (pBlueKS.acrD, pBlueSK.acrD).