FIG. 4.
ExsC is required for full virulence in a murine pneumonia model. Groups (n = 4) of C57B/6 mice were infected with the indicated P. aeruginosa strains (5 × 105 CFU). At 6 or 16 h postinfection, the animals were euthanized and the bacterial loads in the lung (white bars), blood (hatched bars), and liver (black bars) samples were determined by plate counting. The reported values are numbers of CFU per ml of blood or per 1 g of lung or liver tissue. The statistical significance (one-way ANOVA test) between the bacterial loads in mice infected with the wild-type (wt) strain and the exsC mutant are indicated.