FIG 5.

C. glabrata ada2 mutants are hypervirulent in a model of systemic infection in immunosuppressed mice. (A) Survival curves for mice infected with the wild type, the ada2 mutants, or the complemented strain. A total of 10 5- to 6-week-old male ICR mice per strain were immunocompromised with cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg at days −3, 0, and +1). Each mouse was intravenously challenged with 7 × 10⁷ yeast cells in 200 μl of PBS and monitored for 21 days. (B) The fungal burdens of the spleens, kidneys, and brains of the immunocompromised mice were determined at 48 h after challenge with 7 × 10⁷ cells (in 200 μl) via lateral tail vein injection. The P values for the significance of the differences between the wild type and the mutants or the complemented strain, based on the log-rank test, are shown. (C) Histopathological sections of spleens and kidneys were dissected from immunocompromised mice infected with 7 × 10⁷ cells of the wild type, the ada2 mutants, or the complemented strain. The mice were sacrificed at 48 h postinfection. PAS staining was used to observe C. glabrata colonization. Arrows, C. glabrata cells.