FIG 1 .

M protein and hyaluronic acid capsule are indispensable for in vivo selection of the covRS mutant phenotype in GAS serotype M1T1. (A) Quantification of nonlethal inoculum administered to mice subcutaneously. Each symbol shows the value for an individual mouse. The short horizontal bar denotes the arithmetic mean. (B) Percentage of WT and isogenic mutant colonies negative for SpeB protease activity in the original inoculum (n = 50). (C) Bacterial load per gram/tissue in harvested skin lesions (n = 10) 3 days after subcutaneous infection. (D) Percentage of SpeB-negative colonies in skin lesion after 72 h (10 mice per strain and 50 colonies tested per animal). Each symbol shows the value for an individual mouse. The short horizontal bar denotes the arithmetic mean for each group or strain.