TABLE 2.
Lesion formation by wild-type, znuA mutant, and complemented znuA mutant strains of H. ducreyi in the temperature-dependent rabbit modela
| Strain | Inoculum size | Mean lesion score (SD) at:
|
P valueb | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 2 | Day 4 | Day 7 | |||
| Expt A | |||||
| 35000 (wild-type) | 105 | 4.00 (0) | 4.00 (0) | 4.00 (0) | |
| 35000.901 (znuA mutant) | 105 | 3.25 (0.46) | 2.75 (0.46) | 2.75 (0.46) | 0.0001c |
| 35000.901(pDL6-2) | 105 | 4.00 (0) | 4.00 (0) | 4.00 (0) | 0.1334 |
| 35000 | 104 | 3.13 (0.35) | 3.13 (0.35) | 3.63 (0.52) | |
| 35000.901 | 104 | 3.00 (0) | 2.13 (0.64) | 2.00 (0.93) | |
| 35000.901(pDL6-2) | 104 | 3.38 (0.52) | 3.50 (0.54) | 3.88 (0.35) | |
| Expt B | |||||
| 35000 | 105 | 3.88 (0.35) | 4.00 (0) | 4.00 (0) | |
| 35000.901(pCW170) | 105 | 3.13 (0.35) | 2.75 (0.71) | 3.13 (0.35) | 0.0002 |
| 35000.901(pDL6-2) | 105 | 3.38 (0.52) | 3.88 (0.35) | 4.00 (0) | 0.0366 |
| 35000 | 104 | 3.13 (0.35) | 3.38 (0.52) | 3.50 (0.54) | |
| 35000.901(pCW170) | 104 | 3.00 (0) | 2.63 (0.52) | 2.25 (0.46) | |
| 35000.901(pDL6-2) | 104 | 3.00 (0.54) | 3.00 (0.54) | 3.13 (0.64) | |
a
Eight rabbits were used in each experiment.
b
P value calculated for the difference between wild-type and test strain lesion scores. P values were calculated by using the lesion scores from both inoculum sizes and from all 3 days.
c
The complemented znuA mutant 35000.901(pDL6-2) was significantly more virulent than both the znuA mutant containing the vector pCW170 (P = 0.0061) and the znuA mutant alone (P = 0.0001).