FIG. 5.

Fruiting body formation in the csgA mutant. (A) Initial organization of cells after being spotted on agarose (0 h). (B) Instead of cells arranging into a stable matte, tower formation is observed (3 h). (C) Despite the absence of an initial quiescent phase, aggregates are formed at approximately the same time as the wild type (6 h). (D) Unusually large aggregates are formed (16 h). (E) Cells swarm away from large aggregates, often to form new aggregates which also dissolve (17 h). Arrows indicate large flares of cells swarming out of the aggregation center shown in panel D. (F) Constant swarming and reforming of aggregates disrupt fruiting body structure and maturation (45 h). Pictures are derived from the same movie, but with the exception of panels D and E, the pictures are not spatially aligned. Bars, 0.1 mm. The original movie on which this figure is based is available as Movie S3 in the supplemental material.