Fig 8.

Flagellin modification is essential in the colonization and recurrence of C. difficile infection in C57BL/6 mice. Mice were challenged with C. difficile spores (S) 5 days following administration of clindamycin (C). Levels of C. difficile were measured by plating faecal samples and determining the C. difficile cfu g⁻¹.A. Mice were challenged with the parental strain 630Δerm (inverted grey triangles) and the non-motile fliC Clostron mutant (black circles). Initial colonization is similar in these strains but relapse is delayed in 630Δerm by 2 days following the second dose of clindamycin.B. The initial colonization and relapse of the fliC mutant (black circles) were compared to the CD0241 and CD0243 modification mutants (green triangles and light grey squares respectively). While CD0243 has a similar initial colonization and recurrence rate to the fliC mutant, the CD0241 mutant is defective in both initial colonization and recurrence. Asterisks indicate a significant difference compared to the fliC mutant.