FIG 5.

E. faecalis promotes E. coli MG1655 infection during mixed-species CAUTI in vivo. Female C57BL/6NTac mice were implanted with 5-mm silicon catheters in the bladder and infected with 10⁷ CFU of E. coli UTI89 or MG1655 alone, 10⁷ CFU of E. faecalis OG1RF alone, or a 1:1 mixture of 10⁷ CFU of E. coli and 10⁷ CFU of E. faecalis. (A and B) Bladder (A) and kidney (B) titers from E. coli UTI89 and E. faecalis mono- and coinfections. (C and D) Bladder (C) and kidney (D) titers from E. coli MG1655 and E. faecalis mono- and coinfections. After 24 h, bladders and kidneys were removed and CFU enumerated. Data from 2 independent experiments were combined (5 to 7 mice per group). Boxes represent the 25th and 75th percentiles, with the middle line indicating the median. Whiskers represent the minimum and maximum values of the data set. Significance was determined by the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01. The dashed horizontal line represents the limit of detection (LOD) of the assay. Titers below the LOD were assigned the value of the LOD for visualization on the log scale and a value of 0 for statistical analyses.