Kinetic survey of clinical symptoms following <i>C. jejuni</i> knockout mutant NCTC11168::<i>cj0268c</i> infection of gnotobiotic IL-10^−/− mice.

<p>Gnotobiotic IL-10^−/− mice were generated by antibiotic gut decontamination and perorally infected with <i>C. jejuni</i> NCTC11168 (11168-WT, closed circles, n = 10; A), mutant strain NCTC11168::<i>cj0268c</i> (Δ0268c, open circles, n = 11; B), or the complemented strain NCTC11168::<i>cj0268c</i>-comp-<i>cj0268c</i> (Δ0268cCompl, crossed circles; n = 12; C) as described (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090148#s4" target="_blank">methods</a>). Disease activity before and following <i>C. jejuni</i> infection was assessed daily by applying a standardized clinical scoring system. Means (black bars) and levels of significance (<i>P</i>-values) determined by the Mann-Whitney-U test are indicated. Data shown were pooled from three independent experiments.