Figure 7. Uge3 is required for full virulence in mice model of IA.

(A) Survival of cortisone acetate-treated Balb/C mice infected with the indicated A. fumigatus strains. Data are the combined results of 2 independent experiments for a total of 16 mice per strain. * indicates a significant increase in survival between mice infected with the Δuge3 mutant and mice infected with the wild-type or with the uge3 complemented strain, p = 0.017 and <0.001 respectively by the log rank test. (B) Quantification of fungal DNA in lung homogenates of mice after 4 days of infection. Results are median ± interquartile of 8 mice per strain. * indicates a significantly reduced fungal DNA content in lungs of mice infected with the Δuge3 mutant compared with those infected with the wild-type strain, p = 0.015 by the Wilcoxon rank sum test. (C) Photomicrographs of PAS stained sections of mouse lungs obtained 4 days after infection with the indicated strains. White arrows indicate hyphae, black arrows indicate infiltrating leukocytes.