While we observed that disproportionate B cell expansion began from 3 weeks and persisted until 16 weeks p.i., the percentage of germinal center B cells (GL7+FAS+) and plasmablasts (IgD–CD138+) (Figure 1, D and E) did not increase significantly until the chronic stage of the infection when compared with naive and week 3 p.i. A similar trend was also observed for B cell populations expressing the proliferation marker Ki-67 (Supplemental Figure 1B), suggesting that accumulation of B cells in the mLN cannot be explained fully by increased local proliferation. This evidence concerns the gene SDC1 and infection.