Figure 1. C. jejuni colonization along the gastrointestinal tract of gnotobiotic mice.

Gnotobiotic mice generated by antibiotic gut decontamination were orally infected with C. jejuni strains ATCC 43431 (open circles) or 81–176 (closed circles) as described in methods. The pathogen densities in distinct compartments of the gastrointestinal tract were determined by quantification of live C. jejuni in luminal samples taken from stomach, duodenum, ileum, and colon at day 12 p.i. by cultural analysis (CFU, colony forming units). Numbers of animals harboring C. jejuni out of the total number of analyzed animals are given in parentheses. Medians (black bars) are indicated. Data shown were pooled from three independent experiments.