Fig 6.

Colonization of BALB/cByJ mice with select strains of C. jejuni. BALB/cByJ mice were infected orogastrically with the indicated strains at doses of approximately 1 × 10⁹ CFU. After 7 (A) and 14 (B) days, C. jejuni shed in fecal pellets was determined by counting the CFU per gram of feces. Each dot represents the amount of C. jejuni recovered from a single mouse, and the mean colonization for each cohort is indicated by a horizontal bar with standard deviations. The eptC-deficient mutant showed a significant decrease in colonization compared to the wild type at both 7 and 14 days. This colonization defect was restored to wild-type levels in the eptC eptC⁺ complemented strain. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney test. *, P < 0.05. The data were generated from a single independent experiment.