Fig. 5. ʟ-arabinose metabolism promotes C. rodentium fitness in vivo by enhancing T3SS expression.

a Faecal shedding dynamics of BALB/c mice (n = 10) orally infected with either C. rodentium (grey) or ∆araBAD (green). Data points represent the CFU/ml for individual mice as determined from faecal pellets at each timepoint. Statistical significance was determined by a two-tailed Mann–Whitney U-test (significant P = 0.0129, 0.0061, 0.0001 and 0.0086 where indicated from left to right). b Competitive index of C. rodentium versus ∆araBAD during infection of BALB/c mice (n = 10). Mice were orally infected with a 1:1 mixture of both strains. Data points indicate the fold decrease in ∆araBAD CFU recovered per faecal sample in comparison to wild-type C. rodentium. Statistical significance was determined by a two-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank test (significant P = 0.0129, 0.0061, 0.0001 and 0.0086 where indicated from left to right). c CFU per gram of colon tissue from mice (n = 5) orally infected with either C. rodentium (grey) or ∆araBAD (green). Statistical significance was determined by a two-tailed Mann–Whitney U-test (P = 0.0129). d Competitive index of C. rodentium^Pler-const versus ∆araBAD^Pler-const during infection of BALB/c mice (n = 9). Mice were orally infected with a 1:1 mixture of both strains. Statistical significance was determined by a two-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank test. ** and ns indicate P < 0.01 or not significant respectively for all graphs. Source data are provided in the Source Data file.