Fig. 5.

P. aeruginosa infection at acidic pH leads to increased bacterial burden. A and B: C57BL/6 mice were infected intratracheally with 3 × 10⁶ CFU of WT PA14 in an acidic or a basic pH buffer. Bronchoalveolar lavage samples were collected and plated, and recovered CFUs were counted at 3 h (A) and 12 h (B) postinfection. C: WT PA14 were incubated in an acidic or a basic pH buffer for 45 min, and bacterial recovery was assayed by CFU. Data are derived from ≥3 independent experiments (n ≥ 5 for all test groups). *P ≤ 0.05; ns, not significant (by unpaired Student’s t-test with Welch’s correction).