<i>Laiscl</i>⁻ mutants are virulent in BALB/c mice but attenuated in C57BL6 mice.

<p>BALB/c mice or C57BL6 mice were infected in the footpads with stationary phase promastigotes (1×10⁶ parasites/mouse) (<b>A–D</b>) or lesion-derived amastigotes (1×10⁴ parasites/mouse) (<b>E–H</b>). Footpad lesions were recorded weekly in <b>A</b>, <b>C</b>, <b>E</b> and <b>G</b> (•: WT, ○: <i>Laiscl</i>⁻, ▾: <i>Laiscl</i>⁻/+<i>LaISCL</i>). Parasite numbers in the infected footpads were determined at the indicated times by limiting dilution assay and summarized in <b>B</b>, <b>D</b>, <b>F</b> and <b>H</b> (black bars: <i>La</i> WT, white bars: <i>Laiscl</i>⁻, grey bars: <i>Laiscl</i>⁻/+<i>LaISCL</i>). Error bars represent standard deviations (*: <i>p</i><0.05, **: <i>p</i><0.01).