FIG 5.

Overexpression of either F-type atp operon or gcvTHP reduces mucoviscosity. The relative expression of each upregulated gene (A) and downregulated gene (B) was validated by qRT-PCR. A dotted line denotes the mean value of wild type. Mucoviscosity was determined by sedimentation assays (C to E). Mutants for representative downregulated genes (C, E) and overexpression strains for representative upregulated genes (D) were constructed and evaluated for their mucoviscosity. Wild-type or wild-type strain carrying an empty vector (WT vector) was used as a control. (F) Uronic acid contents of wild-type and isogenic variants. Data are presented as mean ± SD from six biological replicates. A two-tailed t test was performed to determine the statistical significance of two group comparison. **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001; ****, P < 0.0001; ns, no significance.