Fig. 2

The STM PALES_11731 mutant has a very low virulence in the drosophila infection model. At least 30 flies were pricked with a needle dipped in bacterial suspension and the insect survival rate was followed over time. By comparison with the wild-type strain (black diamonds), which caused the death of infected flies in less than 40 h, 4 of the 11 mutants were less virulent. One of them (STM PALES_11731 mutant, black circles) was particularly less virulent, with some flies surviving the infection until about 115 h. For the sake of clarity, the 7 mutants displaying virulence equivalent to the wild-type strain (LESB58) are not shown on the graph