Fig. 6.
Growth of F. tularensis strains in host tissues following intradermal infection. Mice inoculated intradermally with 2 × 105 CFU of the stated strain were killed at day 3, 5, or 7 postinfection, and bacterial burdens in skin spleen and liver were determined. The means ± SEMs for five mice per group and time point are shown. At day 7, only two out of five strain LVS-infected mice were alive and could be tested. A significant difference in the bacterial numbers of mutant strains versus LVS is indicated as follows: *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001. At day 7, the numbers of bacteria in the liver of ΔiglG- or ΔiglI mutant-infected mice were below the detection level. a, bacteria were detected in only 4 out of 5 organs; b, bacteria were detected in only 2 out of 5 organs; DL, lower limit of detection.