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. 2011 Sep 7;6(9):e24552. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0024552

Figure 4. Reduced fitness observed after pHe96 acquisition in competitive infections in absence of antimicrobial exposure.

Figure 4

Each symbol represents the ratio (number of CFU for the qnr-positive strain/number of CFU for the qnr-negative isogenic strain) in organs (blue diamond = kidneys, red circle = bladder), collected five and ten days after inoculation of a 1∶1 mix of the two strains. Part A: competition experiments opposing E. coli CFT073-SmR (qnr−) and E. coli CFT073-SmR(pHe96) (qnrA3+). Twenty mice were inoculated, 19 bladders and 16 pairs of kidneys were efficiently infected. Competition was lost 33 times by E. coli CFT073-SmR(pHe96) (qnrA3+), and won only 2 times (p<0.0001). Part B: competition experiments opposing E. coli CFT073-SmR (qnr−) and E. coli CFT073-SmR(pHe96) variant “R42” (qnrA3+). The R42 variant was selected from kidneys that were infected by E. coli CFT073-SmR(pHe96). Twenty mice were inoculated, 18 bladders and 16 pairs of kidneys were efficiently infected. Competition was lost 33 times by the qnrA3-positive strain with only one won (p<0.0001).