Fig. 8

Competitive infection by the wildtype C48–1 with mutant strains △aspA::kan or complemented strains C△aspA::kan in vivo. C48–1 and △aspA::kan or C△aspA::kan were mixed at a 1:1 ratio and 200 μl of the mixture containing 100 CFU of each strain was inoculated into 55-day-old healthy chickens. Bacteria were isolated from the spleens and livers at 24 h (a), (b) and 72 h (c), (d) post-infection. Data points represent the CFU/g of individual animals in the organs indicated; bars show median values (n = 5). Data analyzed by Student’s t-test. * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01 and NS for P>0.05