FIG 4.

tli mutants produce Tli, but are not immune to Tle effector. (A) tli mutants carrying Tn5 insertions in the lipoprotein signal sequence still produce immunity protein. Protein samples from the indicated ECL strains were subjected to immunoblot analysis using polyclonal antisera to Tli. (B) Tn5 insertions ablate the immunity function of Tli. Wild-type ECL (tssM⁺) and mock (ΔtssM) inhibitor strains were mixed with the indicated tli ΔtssM target cells and spotted onto LB agar. After 4 h of coculture, inhibitor and target cells were enumerated as CFU on selective media. The competitive index equals the final ratio of inhibitor to target cells divided by the initial ratio. Presented data are the average ± standard error from three independent experiments.