Expression of Concern: Loop structures in the 5′ untranslated region and antisense RNA mediate pilE gene expression in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

In November 2016, Microbiology published a paper, ‘Loop structures in the 5¢ untranslated region and antisense RNA mediate pilE gene expression in Neisseria gonorrhoeae’ by Masters, Wachter and Hill [1]. Concerns were raised by a reader about whether the first lane of the ‘real-time PCR’ panel of Fig. 6(b) had been spliced. As a result, the Journal undertook a comprehensive investigation over 6 months including seeking advice from Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The author who created the image has retired since the paper was published and none of the co-authors have access to the original figure to establish whether the figure was spliced. Fig. 6(b) does not alter the results or conclusions of this paper. As we cannot make any definitive conclusion about the splicing of the image, we would like to alert the reader to Fig. 6(b) and leave it with the reader to arrive at their own conclusion about this image. A similar image was also published as Fig. 4(d) part 1/2 in the Journal of Bacteriology in, ‘Role for the RecBCD Recombination Pathway for pilE Gene Variation in Repair-Proficient Neisseria gonorrhoeae’ by Hill et al. [2].