Fig. 4

Analysis of the infectivity of FeSOD-A^−/−/+ mutants in THP-1 macrophages. Macrophages were infected with wild-type parasites and with clones FeSOD-A^−/−/+ in a ratio of 1:10 (10 parasites for each macrophage). Ordinary one-way ANOVA test with Bonferroni post hoc test was used to compare WT parasites and mutants at each time point; * represents significant differences in relation to the wild parasite (* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; **** p ≤ 0.0001). a Percentage of infected macrophages, 6 and 72 h after infection. At 72 h—WT vs. C1 F(2, 8) = 6.270; p = 0.0351; at 72 h—WT vs. C2 F(2, 8) = 6.270; p = 0.0306. b Number of intracellular amastigotes per 100 macrophages, 6 and 72 h after infection. At 72 h—WT vs. C1 F(2, 7) = 8.364; p = 0.0164; at 72 h—WT vs. C2 F(2, 7) = 8.364; p = 0.0286