Fig 3. The B. dolosa fixLJ deletion mutant is cleared faster in a murine pneumonia model.

(A-D) C57BL/6 mice were intranasally challenged with ~4x10⁸ CFU/mouse of B. dolosa strain AU0158 or its fixLJ deletion mutant. Bacterial loads were measured at the following sites and time points: (A) Lungs, 1 day after infection; (B) Lungs, 7 days after infection; (C) Spleen, 1 day after infection; (D) Spleen, 7 days after infection. Two fixLJ deletion-infected mice had undetectable bacterial levels in the spleen at day 7 (panel D, shown as 10² CFU/gm). Data is representative from 2 separate experiments with 7–8 mice per group. (E-F) C57BL/6 mice were intranasally challenged with B. dolosa AU0158 ΔfixLJ + fixLJ (6.7x10⁸ CFU/mouse) or B. dolosa AU0158 ΔfixLJ + empty vector (EV) (7.4x10⁸ CFU/mouse). Bacterial loads were measured 7 days after infection in the lungs (E) and spleen (F). Data are derived from one experiment done with 7–8 mice per group. Each point represents one mouse, and bars represent medians. *P<0.05 by Mann Whitney U test.