Figure 1.

Natural and experimental oropharyngeal colonization of WT or transgenic CF mice by P. aeruginosa. (a) Percentage of mice with the indicated genotype having positive throat cultures of P. aeruginosa initially acquired from contaminated drinking water after the addition of 0.1 mg of gentamicin per ml (arrow) to control bacterial growth in drinking water. (b) Oropharyngeal colonization of P. aeruginosa PA14 in transgenic CF and WT mice, and transgenic SP-C-CFTR mice. (c and d) Colonization of WT, FABP-CFTR, or SP-C-CFTR transgenic mice with P. aeruginosa clinical isolates, N6 and N13, switched from antibiotic water to acid water as indicated. Six to eight mice per group were used initially, although over time some animals died, usually with P. aeruginosa cultured from the lung.