Figure 5.
Growth factors of the WT, Δnox and CΔnox strains in mouse blood. The WT, Δnox and CΔnox strains were adjusted to 1 × 105 CFU/mL. Bacterial suspensions (50 μL) were combined with fresh whole blood (450 μL), and the mixtures were incubated at 37°C for 3 h with end-to-end rotation. The growth factor was defined as the ratio of CFU in each sample after incubation over the CFU in the corresponding inoculum. The data shown are means with standard deviations for the results from 3 independent experiments carried out in duplicate. The two-tailed unpaired t test was used for statistical analysis. Significant differences were observed at 1, 2 and 3 h between the Δnox group and the WT group, and between the Δnox group and the CΔnox group (P < 0.0001).