FIG 2.

Characterization of PilT motor mutants. (A) Schematic showing the domain architecture of PilT. Numbers represent the residue number of the beginning and ending of each domain. Below is the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the P. aeruginosa PilT monomer and hexamer (PDB no. 3jVV). (B) Quantification of PilT protein levels via Western blot analysis. The PilT band intensity from whole cells were normalized to a cross-reacting band. Bars and errors bars represent the mean and standard error of the mean (SEM) from 3 biological replicates. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s posttest comparison. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01. Here, and in panel C, strains that were able to twitch at >75% of the WT level are purple bars, strains that twitch at between 25 and 75% of the WT level are blue bars, and strains that twitch at <25% of the WT level are green bars. (C) Assays for T4P function of pilT mutant strains. Images of phage sensitivity plates (top panel) and images of twitch zones stained with crystal violet (bottom panel). “+” denotes a phage-susceptible strain, and “−” denotes a phage-resistant strain as described for Fig. 1. The graph shows the quantification of twitch zone diameters for each strain. Bars and errors bars represent the mean and standard deviation of 4 biological replicates. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s posttest comparison. ****, P < 0.0001.