FIG 6.
Evaluation of the pathogenicity of S. aureus strains in silkworm larvae. Ten silkworm larvae were injected with diluted cultures (1 × 107 CFU) of the indicated strains grown overnight. Larval survival was monitored at 25°C for 60 h. The curves are representative of data from at least three independent experiments. The differences between the WT and Δeap ΔsasG strains or between the WT and the injection control (0.6% NaCl solution) were statistically significant (*, P < 0.05, and **, P < 0.01, respectively). In contrast, no statistical difference was apparent between WT and Δeap strain treatments or between WT and ΔsasG strain treatments (P > 0.05).