FIG. 8.

Sections of force curves a, b, c, d, e, and f in Fig. 5 superimposed to illustrate the similarity of the slopes of the nearly linear regions near rupture. Individual traces were shifted horizontally until curves near the principal adhesion peaks overlapped at a force of 75 pN. The extra hump at 920 nm (derived from trace d in Fig. 5) is most likely caused by adhesion of two pili of nearly the same length.