FIG 10.

The RscS-SypF chimera can complement rscS and sypF deletions. Colony biofilm formation was evaluated following growth on tTBS (T), TC, TP, and TPC of the following strains: ΔrscS+rscS-sypF chimera (KV10302) (A), ΔsypF+rscS-sypF chimera (KV10355) (B), ΔsypF ΔrscS+rscS-sypF chimera (KV10351) (C), and ΔsypF rscS Δhpt::sypF-hpt+rscS-sypF chimera (KV10397) (D). Pictures were taken using the Zeiss Stemi 2000-c microscope with ×6.5 magnification at 72 h before and after disruption using a toothpick. Pictures are representative of three separate experiments. Arrows indicate where “pulling,” indicating cohesion, was observed. Dotted arrows represent where “pulling” was observed but to a lesser extent, with portions of the colony breaking off during disruption. (E) Biofilm cohesion was quantified from images as described in Materials and Methods with scores of 1 assigned to a null phenotype and 4 to the most/strongest. Statistics were performed via a two-way ANOVA using Tukey’s multiple-comparison test, where biofilm strength was the dependent variable. *, P = 0.0122; ***, P = 0.0007; ****, P < 0.0001.