FIG. 5.

Persistence of S. aureus in kidneys 14 days following inoculation with 3 × 10⁶ to 4 × 10⁶ CFU of strain 8325-4 (rsbU mutant), SH1000 (rsbU⁺), or MJH502 (sigB mutant). Data from two experiments are pooled (n = 20, 18, and 19, respectively). The kidneys were homogenized and diluted to appropriate concentrations before being spread on agar plates and cultured for 24 h. The number of CFU was counted. Data are medians (bold line) and IQRs for each group of mice. Comparisons with strain SH1000 were made by using the Mann-Whitney U test.