Fig 2.

Colonization activities of the V. vulnificus strains. Four mice were infected intragastrically with an inoculum prepared by mixing equal numbers of biofilm-derived cells of the wild type and the smcR mutant, and then the bacterial cells colonized on the mouse intestine were enumerated (as CFU) at each time point. Each circle corresponds to the colonization index for an individual mouse. The median values are displayed as a solid line (wild type) or dashed line (mutant) on the graph. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01, relative to the wild type at the indicated time. WT, wild type; HS03, smcR mutant.