FIG. 1.
Induction of ivi genes is required for survival in the animal. The vertical axis represents the number of CFU recovered from the organ of interest after inoculation. The inoculum bar represents the number of CFU of P. aeruginosa injected into each animal. Results are from the BALB/c mouse model of septicemia induced by intraperitoneal injection (104 CFU/mouse; 3 days) (A) and the Sprague-Dawley rat model of chronic lung infection induced via intratracheal instillation of bacterial cells enmeshed in agar beads (5 × 105 CFU/rat; 5 days) (B). Cells were grown overnight at 37°C in rich (adenine-supplemented) laboratory medium. Strains 100 and 101 (Lac−) and strain 102 (Lac+) were preselected purA-lac fusion strains. PAO909 is a P. aeruginosa auxotroph for adenine. Data are presented as averages of two to five independent assays ± standard deviations.