Fig. (2) A) growth curves of wild-type and ΔvicK strains in THY.Cultures at the exponential phase were inoculated into fresh THY,and OD₆₀₀ was measured at the indicated times. B) growth of wildtype and 􀀁vicK strains in rabbit blood. Approximately 2 x 10⁴ cfu of each strain was inoculated into 1 ml blood in triplicate. Numbers of the bacteria in inocula and in the samples after end-to-end rotation at 37°C for 4 h were determined by plating. The growth factor (cfu at 4 h/ cfu at 0 h) ± SD is presented.