Figure 1. Incidence of plague in mice infected with Y. pestis lacking the zinc transporter Znu and/or the putative zinc murein DD-endopeptidase YebA (YPO2062).

(A), mice were injected intradermally with ∼10 Y. pestis WT (white circles) and ΔznuABC ypo2062 (black squares) or ΔznuC (black diamonds). (B), mice were inoculated with as in (A) with WT (white circles) or Δypo2062 (grey circles) mutants. Only the loss of YPO2062 significantly decreased the virulence of Y. pestis (p<0.05, relative to WT). Groups of 8 mice were used. Data obtained with the ΔznuABC ypo2062 mutant are representative of two experiments. Data obtained with the ΔznuC and Δypo2062 mutants come from one experiment each.