Fig 6.

ΔfimX bacteria form biofilms and stain for surface pilin. (A) PAO1, PAO1ΔfimX, and PAO1ΔpilA were grown as static biofilms for 24 h at 30°C in triplicate wells and then stained with crystal violet. Bars represent means ± SD from three independent experiments; values are normalized to PAO1. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001. (B) Three-dimensional plot of day 4 flow biofilms formed by PAO1, PAO1ΔfimX, and PAO1ΔpilA. (C) Scatter plots showing average thickness and roughness of day 4 flow biofilms of PAO1, PAO1ΔfimX, and PAO1ΔpilA, as calculated by COMSTAT. (D) PAO1, PAO1ΔfimX, and PAO1ΔpilA were grown on polylysine-coated coverslips for 24 h under static biofilm conditions and then stained for surface pilin. All images were acquired under identical conditions. Scale bar, 10 μm.