FIG. 1.

Effect of capsule production on S. aureus virulence in the murine mastitis model. The ordinate represents the log number of CFU of Reynolds (CP⁻), Reynolds (CP5), and Reynolds (CP8) recovered from the mammary glands at different times after intramammary inoculation with 10⁵ (A), 5 × 10⁵ (B), or 10⁶ (C) CFU/gland. The lower limit of detection by culture was 5 CFU/gland. The P values shown represent the level of significance for comparisons between Reynolds (CP⁻) versus Reynolds (CP5) and Reynolds (CP⁻) versus Reynolds (CP8). Each point represents the geometric mean from groups of 4 to 19 mice (sample sizes are shown for groups at each time point).