ISG15 and infection: At 48 hpi, when the RNA-Seq data analysis revealed a greater type I IFN response in bMDM infected with G18 than with AF2122, RT-qPCR analysis revealed strain-specific differential expression of ISG15, MX1, OAS1Y, and RSAD2, with significantly greater responses to AF2122 than G18 (Table 2, daggers), e.g., RSAD2 mRNA levels exhibited 332.8- ± 255.8-fold upregulation compared to the uninfected control in response to AF2122 infection but only 16.3- ± 2.9-fold upregulation in response to G18 infection.