FIG 6 .

Ksc1 is essential for pathogenicity in Galleria mellonella and mice. (A) G. mellonella larvae were inoculated with the WT or the Δkcs1 mutant (10⁶ yeast cells/10 µl). Two groups of larvae were also mock infected with water, or not at all, to serve as controls. The larvae were incubated at 30°C for 10 days, their health was monitored, and their deaths were recorded. (B to D) Anesthetized mice were inoculated intranasally with 5 × 10⁵ CFU/20 µl of the indicated strains and euthanized after exhibiting debilitating symptoms of infection for the survival study (B) or at 3, 7, and 14 days postinfection for organ burden analysis (C and D). (A and B) Δkcs1 mutant-infected animals not showing clinical symptoms of illness were culled at days 15 and 50, and censorship of these infection groups is indicated by the cross. The Kaplan-Meier log rank test was used to determine differences in survival, with Δkcs1 mutant-infected larvae and mice surviving longer than WT-infected animals and the reconstituted strain in the case of the mouse study (*, P < 0.05). The difference in survival of mice infected with the WT and Δkcs1::KCS1 strain was insignificant (P = 0.161). Lungs (C) and brain (D) were removed and homogenized for organ burden analysis (CFU per organ) using quantitative culture.