Fig. 7: Colonisation and clinical signs of disease following oral inoculation of pigs with S. Typhimurium U288 and ST34.

A Four pigs were challenged orally with an inoculum containing six wild-type independently tagged strains (WITS) of S. Typhimurium (three DT193 and three U288) in approximately equal proportions. Whole genome sequence of the population of the WITS in the inoculum and recovered from infected pigs was used to enumerate each strain based on the unique sequence tag. The relative abundance of each strain is denoted by bars and the number of strains in each sample (richness) is indicated by circles based on the colour code indicated. Separately, four pigs were challenged orally with S04698-09 (ST34), or 11020-1996 (U288) strains to investigate the signs of disease and colonisation. B–D Groups of four pigs were inoculated with approximately 1 × 10¹⁰ colony forming units of either ST34 S04698-09 (blue bars or circles) or U288 11020-1996 (green bars or circles). B Rectal temperatures of the pigs were monitored over 72 h of infection and C Clinical scores derived from physiological signs and faecal consistency are box plots showing the median interquartile range. D The mean and standard error of viable counts of bacteria shed in the faeces at 24, 48 and 72 h post-inoculation and tissues collected 72 h post-inoculation.