Figure 4.

The essentiality of virB is dependent on the route of infection and organ. Wild-type C57BL/6 mice were infected intraperitoneally (i.p.) (A), intranasally (i.n.) (B) or intradermally (i.d.) (C), with a dose of 2 × 10⁴ CFU of mCherry-B. melitensis or with mCherry-ΔvirB B. melitensis. Mice were sacrificed at the indicated times. The data represent the CFU count per lung, spleen, or footpad lesion. Gray bars represent the median. Significant differences between the indicated groups are marked with asterisks: ^*p < 0.1, ^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001. These results are representative of two independent experiments. h, hours; d, days; n, number.