Phosphorylcholine Allows for Evasion of Bactericidal Antibody by Haemophilus influenzae
Figure 1
Adaptive immunity is required for selection of ChoP+ phase variants during colonization.
BALB/c or BALB/c (severe combined immune deficiency, or SCID) mice were intranasally inoculated with 107 CFU/mL of a 3∶1 mixture of ChoP−∶ChoP+ phase variants of NTHi strain H632. The percentage of ChoP+ phase variants was determined by colony immunoblotting of the inoculum (input, white bars) and the nasal lavage fluid following three days of colonization (output, stippled bars). Values are derived from five mice per group ± SD, ***p<.0001.