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. 2009 May 15;5(5):e1000432. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000432

Figure 5. Characterization of extra-genic suppressors reverting the biofilm formation defect of ΔrfaY cells in a transposon mutagenized library.

Figure 5

(A) Distribution of z-scores after enrichment for ΔrfaY double mutants that recovered the capacity for sPNAG-based biofilm formation. (B) Schematic representation of LPS structure, together with its biosynthesis genes (enzymes) in ΔrfaY cells. Secondary mutations which reverted the biofilm-formation deficiency of the ΔrfaY cells are highlighted in red. (C) LPS samples from a subset of ΔrfaY double mutants that recovered their ability to respond to sPNAG are separated on a SDS-PAGE gel. All double mutants showed truncated versions of LPS compared to the ΔrfaY cells. LPS samples from ΔrfaY ΔrfaC and ΔrfaY ΔrfaF cells were not detectible on the gel. (D) ΔrfaY cells, expressing RFP (mCherry), and ΔrfaY ΔrfaF cells, expressing GFP, were competed against each other for biofilm formation on a glass slide surface in presence of sPNAG (top row). Three images from left to right show the red channel, green channel, and the merged version. Similar results were obtained after swapping the fluorescent markers (bottom row).