Ability of V. cholerae mutants defective in DNA repair pathways to colonize the infant mouse intestine in competition with the parental strain (WT).

aThe competitive index is the ratio of mutant to parental (WT) cfu in the small intestine post infection divided by the input ratio of mutant to parental (WT) cfu. The average and standard error of 5–7 mouse experiments is shown for each mutant. The ΔmutS, Δnfo, xth::Tn Δnfo, ΔmutS, Δnfo mutant strains grew similarly to the wild type under free-living conditions (Figure S1A). The mean and standard error of 5–7 mouse experiments is shown for each mutant. Statistical significance of the competitive colonization defect of each mutant strain relative to the null hypothesis was determined as described in the materials and methods (*** p