Figure 10.

Comparison of Δldh mutants-based vaccines to that based on Δompdc auxotrophs. (A) Survival curves of mice infected with indicated strains. Tachyzoites of indicated strains were used to infect ICR mice (10⁴ parasites/mouse, 10 mice for each strain) by intraperitoneal injection and the survival of mice were monitored for 30 days. ***p < 0.001, Gehan–Breslow–Wilcoxon test. (B) Replication of parasites in vivo. ICR mice were infected with 10⁴ tachyzoites of indicated strains by intraperitoneal injection and parasite loads in peritoneal fluids 7 days post-infection were determined by quantitative PCR. ***p < 0.001, Student’s t-test. (C) Protection efficiency offered by vaccination of indicated Toxoplasma gondii mutants. ICR mice were immunized with indicated strains by intraperitoneal injection of 10⁴ tachyzoites each. Thirty days post-immunization, they were challenged with 10⁴ tachyzoites of the ME49 strain and survival of mice were monitored for another 30 days. Non-immunized mice were included as negative control. ***p < 0.001, Gehan–Breslow–Wilcoxon test.