Number of individuals among test (periodontitis) and control (healthy) groups according to HSP60 levels being undetectable, less or greater than 1000 ng/ml.

<p>Asterisk refers to statistically significant differences (P<0.05) between groups within each category as computed with Chi-square test.</p

Differences in plasma concentrations between patients suffering from periodontitis (N = 80) and age-matched unaffected controls (N = 48).

<p>Boxes refer to the 25^th (bottom) and 75^th (up) percentiles and the median is the large horizontal line, fences refer to the 10^th (lower) and 90^th (upper) percentiles respectively. Open circles represent outliers whereas asterisks stand for extreme observations with the subject number. Statistical differences are computed with Mann-Whitney U-test.</p

Case control study

*<p>Differences were computed with parametric (Independent t-test) or non parametric (Mann-Whitney U-Test) dependent upon the data frequency distribution. Categorical variables were analyzed by Chi-square testing.</p>**<p>See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0001198#pone-0001198-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a>.</p

Mean values (standard errors) and mean changes (standard errors) (compared to baseline) of HSP10 (A–B), BiP (C–D) and HSP60 (E–F) before, 24 hrs after and 6 months after periodontal therapy.

<p>Positive differences indicate a relative increase in plasma concentrations of various markers compared to the pre-treatment baseline. Subjects who received intensive periodontal therapy (open circles, N = 40) showed greater plasma concentrations of HSP10 at each time visit when compared to control therapy group subjects (filled circles, N = 40). No other changes were observed. Asterisks refer to statistically significant difference (P<0.05) between groups as computed with analysis of covariance.</p

K_D values for the interaction of recombinant ComE1 proteins with pUC19.

<p>K_D values for the interaction of recombinant ComE1 proteins with pUC19.</p

Binding of DNA to ComE1.

<p>(A) Inhibition ELISA to determine the capacity of Fn or genomic DNA isolated from <i>P. multocida</i> to block the binding of rGST-ComE1 from <i>P. multocida</i> to immobilised human serum Fn. The competing ligands were added at concentrations ranging from 1 mg/ml to 0.1 µg/ml. (B) Inhibition ELISA to determine the capacity of Fn or pUC19 DNA to block the binding of rGST-ComE1 from <i>P. multocida</i> to immobilised human serum Fn. Equimolar concentrations of Fn of pUC19 DNA were used to compete with immobilised Fn for binding to rGST-ComE1. Results are presented as the mean±SEM of quadruplicate wells and are representative of at least three experiments. The values for rGST-ComE1 refer to the binding of this protein to Fn-coated wells with no competing ligands.</p

Comparison of the transformation frequency of wild-type <i>A. pleuropneumoniae</i> and <i>ApcomE1</i>.

<p>The effect of the presence of Fn on the transformation frequency of wild-type <i>A. pleuropneumoniae</i> was also tested. Bars with different letters are significantly different from each other (one-way ANOVA, P<0.001).</p

Homologues of PM1665 (ComE1) from members of the Pasteurellaceae selected for cloning and expression.

<p>Homologues of PM1665 (ComE1) from members of the Pasteurellaceae selected for cloning and expression.</p

Binding of ComE1 to single-stranded DNA.

<p>Binding of 1 nM of recombinant GST-ComE1 from <i>P. multocida</i> to immobilised DNA fragments or single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) measured by direct binding ELISA. The data are presented as the mean±SEM of triplicate wells. The data shown are representative of three separate experiments.</p

Binding of <i>P. multocida</i> to Fn or pUC19 pre-incubated with rGST-ComE1 from <i>P. multocida</i>.

<p>Values are expressed as percentage values of the binding to Fn. Bars with different letters are significantly different from each other (one-way ANOVA, P<0.001). Data are the mean±SEM of triplicate wells. Results are representative of three separate experiments.</p