Galleria mellonella Invertebrate Model Mirrors the Pathogenic Potential of Mycoplasma alligatoris within the Natural Host

Figure 5

Weight loss (a, b) and bacterial colonization (c, d) in alligators infected intratracheally with M. alligatoris. Infectious doses used were low (10² and 10³ CFU), medium (10⁴ and 10⁵ CFU), and high (10⁶ and 10⁷ CFU). Controls received sterile broth. Alligators were necropsied at Day 14 (control, n = 3; low, n = 6; medium, n = 8; high, n = 7) or Day 28 (control, n = 4; low, n = 10; medium, n = 10; high, n = 10) postinfection. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA; significant differences among groups were determined with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. p values < 0.05 are shown. (a, b) The starting baseline weight is shown by the dashed line; all data are expressed in percentage of the starting body weight. A linear trend was found at both Day 14 () and Day 28 (). Isolation of M. alligatoris from blood of intratracheally infected alligator is expressed as log CFU. At Day 28 PI (d), microbial load was significantly greater in the high infectious dose than all other groups, ; there were no differences at Day 14 PI (c). A linear trend was found at Day 28 () but not at Day 14 ().

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