FIG. 7.

Western blot analysis and adherence assays of recombinant E. coli bacteria expressing O12E MhaC and MhaB1. (A) Sarkosyl-insoluble OM proteins were extracted from E. coli strains carrying the plasmids pCC1.3 (lane 1) and pRB.O12E.B1C (lane 2) and were then analyzed by immunoblotting with murine sera against MhaB and MhaC; molecular mass markers are shown in kilodaltons. (B) Duplicate adherence assays were performed on at least four separate occasions. The adherence is expressed as the percentage (±standard error) of inoculum bound to epithelial cells following a 3-h incubation. The Mann-Whitney test was used to determine whether the increase in adherence was statistically significant (*, P < 0.05). Ab, antibody.