BveA contributes to intracellular survival of B. melitensis in macrophages and to persistent infection in vivo. (A) Intracellular replication of wild-type B. melitensis (Bm), bveA mutant CMR27 (bveA), and complemented strain CMR28 (pbveA) as recovered CFU/ml at specific time points postinfection in J774.A1 macrophage-like cells. (B) Colonization levels of wild-type and bveA mutant CMR27 in cervical lymph nodes of C57BL/6J mice at 1 week (n = 5) and 4 weeks (n = 4) after inoculation via the i.n. route with a 1:1 mixture of the wild type (WT) and CMR27 (bveA). The competitive index (ratio of WT to CMR27) was calculated based on recovered CFU/g tissue. (C) Colonization levels of B. melitensis WT and CMR27 (bveA) after inoculation of individual strains via the i.p. route. Symbols represent the values from individual mice, and horizontal bars represent the geometric means of each group. Significant differences between the wild type and CMR27 (bveA): *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001.