Fig. 2.

Deletion of GAS pilus expression increases virulence in a mouse model of necrotizing fasciitis. a Subcutaneous infection with the ΔPil mutant generates larger skin lesions compared with GAS WT at 48 h (P = 0.014) and 72 h (P = 0.013); representative mouse from these experiments shown in b. c The ΔPil + Pil complemented mutant produces smaller skin lesions than the ΔPil mutant at 72 h (P = 0.011). Eight mice were used per group and all experiments were repeated three times with similar results