FIG 9.
Challenge of mice with S. aureus USA300 Δplc strains. (A) BALB/c mice were challenged with a bolus of 5 × 106 CFU of wild-type or Δplc mutant S. aureus by tail vein injection. Kidneys were harvested at day 8 postinfection for determination of the number of CFU per gram of tissue. (B) BALB/c mice were shaved and challenged subcutaneously with a bolus of 1 × 107 CFU of wild-type or Δplc mutant S. aureus. A 10-mm punch biopsy specimen was excised from lesions at day 4 postinfection for determination of the number of CFU per gram of tissue. (C) The viability of Δplc strains exposed to mouse whole blood was determined by dividing the number of bacteria recovered after 3 h of exposure to the initial bacterial challenge. The numbers of CFU were determined by serial dilution and plating on TSA plates. The results in panel C represent the means ± SEMs for three independent experiments.