FdmR is crucial for M. marinum virulence. (A) Survival of adult zebrafish infected with M. marinum wild type (WT), ∆fdmR mutant, and complemented strain ∆fdmR/C. n = 25 per group. ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001 by Kaplan–Meier method with a log-rank test. (B) Hematoxylin–eosin (Left) and Ziehl–Neelsen (Right) stains of adult zebrafish at 1 wpi and 3 wpi. (Scale bars, 100 μm.) Dotted lines delineate granulomas. The boxed areas are enlarged on the right and arrows indicate bacteria outside granulomas. Results are representative of three experiments. (C) Representative images of zebrafish larvae infected with the M. marinum strains carrying a fluorescent protein-expressing plasmid at 6 dpi. (Scale bars, 200 μm.) (D) Bacterial burdens of zebrafish larvae at 3 dpi and 6 dpi. n = 25 per group. ****P < 0.0001 by unpaired two-tailed t test.
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