FIG 14.

Independent challenge of candidate fitness factors. CBA/J mice were transurethrally inoculated with 1 × 10⁵ CFU of wild-type P. mirabilis or an individual mutant of interest, and a 4-mm segment of catheter tubing was retained in the bladder for the duration of the study. Mice were sacrificed 4 days postinoculation, and bacterial burden was determined in the urine, catheterized bladder, kidneys, and spleen. Data represent the log₁₀ CFU/gram of tissue or the log₁₀ CFU/ml of urine and are displayed as box-and-whisker plots with all data points shown; the horizontal middle lines indicate the mean. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001 (compared to the wild type by the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test). The numbers provided below each data set represent the percentage of mice that exhibited colonization above the limit of detection (100 CFU/gram of tissue or/ml of urine). ^, P < 0.05; ^̂, P < 0.01 (by chi-square test).