Fig. 2: Successful infections in new hosts depend on the proportion of transmitted cooperators.
a Experimental scheme for transmission experiments. Feces from mice in Fig. 1 collected on day 2 and day 10 post infection were suspended in PBS and given to new ampicillin (Amp.) pretreated mice. b–g Mice orally given fecal resuspensions with S.Tm harboring pVirLow (blue; dark shade for day 2 transmission; light shade for day 10 transmission; n = 8 for both groups) are compared to pVirHigh (orange; dark shade for day 2 transmission (n = 11); light shade for day 10 transmission (n = 10)) using a two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test (p > 0.05 (ns), *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001). All data points are shown and medians are represented by bars. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. b–d Mice given feces from day 2 post infection. e–g Mice given feces from day 10 post infection. b, e Inflammation was quantified using a LCN2 ELISA. The dotted lines indicate the detection limit. c, f The shedding population was enumerated by summing all populations determined by selective plating. Donor, recipient, and transconjugant populations are presented in Fig. S4. d, g MacConkey plates containing colonies of transconjugants were analyzed for expression of SipC as a proxy for TTSS-1 expression using a colony western blot; the percentage of colonies that expressed SipC are reported out of the total transconjugant population. The black dotted line indicates the conservative detection limit for the colony blot, which is dependent on the number of colonies on the plate (values can therefore appear below the detection limit).
