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. 2023 Nov 17;14:7454. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43241-y

Fig. 3. CAPSUlator design and characterization.

Fig. 3

a Top: capsule operon and genetic context in wild type D39V. Bottom: CAPSUlator construct placed in four genetic loci on the chromosome. b Gene regulatory circuits of the CAPSUlator and control strains. The ~ symbol indicates that the three-node oscillatory network is intact. The ⊣ symbol signifies repression and the _/- symbol indicates the ring-node network is interrupted. c The CAPSUlator shows heterogeneous production of capsule and the three fluorescent proteins. Capsule production correlates with the production of mScarletI (see also Fig. S2). A micrograph from a representative experiment is shown (the experiment was performed at least 3 times). Scale bar 5 µm. d Left: snap-shots of a microfluidic time-lapse microscopy movie of the CAPSUlator with 1h20m time intervals. Scale bar 2 µm. Cells producing mScarlet-I produce capsule: the cells occupy more space, thereby fitting only one cell in the width of the channel, while cells mainly producing mNeonGreen and mTurquoise2 can fit two cells in the width of a channel and are not growing as a chain. Right: schematic representation.