PMC

Relationship between vcg type and virulence. Box plots show the relationships between vcg type and (A) skin infection, (B) liver infection, and (C) body temperature at euthanasia. The vcg genotypes are shown on the left. For details, see the legend to Fig. . Symbols: ^, vcg type C significantly higher than vcg type E (ANOVA); ^, vcg type C significantly lower than vcg type E (ANOVA); *, vcg type C significantly higher than vcg type E (χ²).

Relationship between MLST and virulence. Box plots show the relationships between MLST and (A) skin infection, (B) liver infection, and (C) body temperature at euthanasia. The MLST genotypes are shown on the left. For details, see the legend to Fig. . Symbols: ^, MLST 2 significantly higher than MLST 1 (ANOVA); ^^, MLST 2 significantly lower than MLST 1 (ANOVA); *, MLST 2 significantly higher than MLST 1 (χ²).

Relationship between capsule PCR allele and virulence. Box plots show the relationships between capsule PCR type and (A) skin infection, (B) liver infection, and (C) body temperature at euthanasia. The capsule PCR genotypes are shown on the left. For details, see the legend to Fig. . Symbols: ^ and *, capsule PCR type 0 significantly lower than types 1 and 2 (ANOVA and χ², respectively); † and ‡, capsule PCR type 1 significantly different from types 0 and 2 (ANOVA and χ², respectively).

Relationship between rep-PCR type and virulence. Box plots show the relationships between rep-PCR group and (A) skin infection, (B) liver infection, and (C) body temperature at euthanasia. The rep-PCR genotypes are shown on the left. For details, see the legend to Fig. . Symbols: ^ and *, group 8 significantly lower than all other groups (ANOVA and χ², respectively); ^^, group 8 significantly lower than groups 2 and 9 (ANOVA); #, group 4 significantly lower than group 9 (χ²); †, group 4 significantly higher than group 2 (ANOVA); ‡, group 4 significantly lower than groups 2, 3, and 9 (χ²); ‡‡, group 5 significantly lower than group 2 (χ²).

Grouping of V. vulnificus strains based on the relationship between skin and liver CFU counts. The CLUSTER program of SAS was used to examine the skin and liver CFU counts of V. vulnificus strains. Strains with a cluster distance of less than 1.0 were considered a group. Group 1, □, very low level in skin, undetectable in liver; group 2, Δ, low level in skin and undetectable to low level in liver; group 3, ○, high level in skin and undetectable to low level in liver; group 4, ⋄, high level in skin and moderate to high level in liver; group 5, ×, very high level in skin and very high level in liver. vcgC genotype strain symbols are white; vcgE genotype strain symbols are gray.

Relationships among the virulence attributes of all of the mice in the s.c. inoculated iron dextran-treated mouse model. The skin CFU count/g, the liver CFU count/g, and the body temperature at euthanasia were examined relative to each other. (A) Liver infection versus skin infection. (B) Body temperature versus skin infection. (C) Body temperature versus liver infection. Symbols: ▪, mice infected with vcgE genotype V. vulnificus; ⋄, mice infected with vcgC genotype V. vulnificus. The line at 33°C in panels B and C shows the body temperature cutoff for death in the model. The dotted lines for the skin and liver CFU counts show the minimum detectable values.

Relationship between 16S rrn ribotype and virulence. Box plots show the relationships between rrn type and (A) skin infection, (B) liver infection, and (C) body temperature at euthanasia. The rrn genotypes are shown on the left. The fractions are the numbers of mice with detectable skin infections (A), detectable liver infections (B), or body temperatures of less than 33°C (surrogate for death) (C) over the total number of mice of that genotype for which data are available. The percent positive is shown below the fraction. The boxes show the second and third quartiles of data with the median in between. Symbols: ♦, mean; ×, outlier data (greater than 1.5 times the range of the second and third quartiles from the median, designated by the whiskers); ^, rrn type A significantly lower than type B (ANOVA); *, rrn type A significantly lower than type B (χ²); ^^, rrn type A significantly lower than types B and AB (ANOVA); **, rrn type A significantly lower than types B and AB (χ²). P values are in the text.