FIG. 3.

Comparison of the method of growth of the challenge inoculum or the route of injection on the CFU/ml in blood 2 and 4 h postinfection achieved by S. aureus strain Newman either deleted for the ica locus (Δica) or with the WT ica locus placed back into the chromosome (complemented [Comp] strain). Bars represent mean CFU/ml blood, error bars the standard deviations. Eight mice per group were used. The lower limit of detection is 2 CFU/ml. P values were determined by t test.