<i>L. monocytogenes</i> metabolic mutants grow less efficiently in macrophage cells.

<p>A. Intracellular growth curves of WT <i>L. monocytogenes</i> and metabolic mutants. Left panel: Δ<i>ilvC</i>, Δ<i>argD</i>, Δ<i>purH</i>, Δ<i>aroE</i> mutants (for complemented strains, see <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002887#pgen.1002887.s003" target="_blank">Figure S3</a>). Right panel: the newly identified metabolic mutants Δ<i>rhaB</i> and Δ<i>hisC</i>, and complemented strains harboring a copy of <i>rhaB</i> and <i>hisC</i> genes on the pPL2 plasmid. The experiment was performed 3 times and representative growth curves are shown. Error bars indicate standard error. B. Percentage of bacteria that escaped macrophage phagosomes at 2.5 h.p.i. as determined by microscope fluorescence assays. The data represents 3 independent experiments (N = 3).