DNASE1L1 and infection: These results demonstrated that effective E. chaffeensis binding, entry, and infection depended on DNase X. Importantly, E. chaffeensis load in peripheral blood at 5 days pi in DNase X−/− mice was significantly lower than in wild-type mice (Fig. 7J), indicating that effective in vivo infection of E. chaffeensis also requires involvement of DNase X.