Figure 8

cadDX confers resistance to cadmium and oxidative stress and enhances virulence in S. agalactiae. A, B Growth curves of S. agalactiae-pSET2, S. agalactiae-cadDX, S. agalactiae-cadD, and S. agalactiae-cadX cultured in THB (control) or THB supplemented with 15 µM CdCl₂. C Survival rates of S. agalactiae-pSET2, S. agalactiae-cadDX, S. agalactiae-cadD, and S. agalactiae-cadX under H₂O₂ stress conditions. Five mice per group were injected intraperitoneally with 1.0 × 10² CFU of ΔCRISPR_S.a-pSET2 or ΔCRISPR_S.a-cadDX. All the mice were euthanized at 24 h post-infection. Bacteria from the blood (D), brain (E), kidney (F), and liver (G) were plated onto THA, and colonies are expressed as Log₁₀ CFU/g or Log₁₀ CFU/mL. Data are presented as mean ± SD, and asterisks indicate significantly different values (“*”, “**”, “***” and “****” indicate p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.001, and p < 0.0001, respectively).