Figure 2.

Effect of mucins on bacterial proliferation. The effect of mucin on bacterial replication is expressed as mean differences (SE) between the optical densities of control cultures (in TSB) and bacteria incubated with mucin. (A, B) The effects of the largest mature mucins (Vo, 1.35–1.4 g/min) on all the commensal isolates after 30 minutes and 4 hour incubations, respectively. Examples of individual isolates. (C) Isolate 4; 30 minute incubation, (D) isolate 2; 4 hour incubation) emphasise the similar effect of mucins with different glycosylation densities on bacterial growth. The density of glycosylation increases with increased buoyant density.