Figure 3.

Chemotaxis-based invasion to muscle tissue.

(A and B) Histopathology analysis of right caudal thighs from infected mice. H&E (A) and anti-V. vulnificus/PI-stained (B) histopathology images of subcutaneous tissue and muscle tissue at infection sites in mice s.c.-inoculated with PBS, WT, ΔpomA, ΔcheY, and Q93R at 9 h post-infection. Scale bars, 50 μm. SC, subcutaneous tissue. M, muscle. (C) Bacterial burdens in the muscle tissue of mice s.c.-inoculated with WT, ΔpomA, ΔcheY, Q93R, and pcheY calculated as CFU/g at 12 h post-infection. Each symbol represents an individual mouse (n = 5/group). Error bars indicate SEM. **P < 0.01; n.s., not significant (P > 0.05) compared with WT; Mann-Whitney U-test.