Mice were infected intravenously (i.v.) with Listeria monocytogenes LO28 or EGDe strains. 5610 5 CFU/mouse is lethal dose (256LD 50 ), mice start dying at day 2-3 after infection. 2610 3 CFU/mouse is a sublethal dose (0.16LD 50 ), all mice are able to clear the bacterial around day 7 after infection. For determination of bacterial loads, spleens, livers and lymph nodes of sacrificed mice were removed and homogenized in 1 ml PBS supplemented with 0.2% NP-40. Serial dilutions of homogenates were plated on BHI agar plates and colonies were counted after overnight incubation at 37uC.