Figure 6. Alteration of the aggregation domain mutants in Asc10 lowers the ability of E. faecalis to bind to valve tissue.

(A) Double aggregation domain mutant (OG1SSp [pCF10-5]) with N-terminal aggregation domain deletion and central aggregation 31-aa insertion. The mutant is unable to bind as well as Asc10⁺ OG1SSp (pCF10). (B) Single aggregation domain mutants bind as well as Asc10⁺ OG1SSp (pCF10) initially, but over time the gap between the Asc10⁺ OG1SSp (pCF10) and mutant grows increasingly. The data shown are a compilation of at least three experiments. * denotes p≤0.02, with respect to Asc10⁺ OG1SSp (pCF10) valve bacterial loads.