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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jun 14.
Published in final edited form as: Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2009 Dec;89(0 1):S18–S25. doi: 10.1016/S1472-9792(09)70007-1

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

Pellicle cultures of MTB.23 Attenuated MTB form easily crumbled aggregates with no tendency to spread. Fragments could be easily broken off without disturbing the rest of the surface. Virulent MTB typically form pellicles that spread and climb the walls of flasks. The pellicle surface has multiple holes that give it an appearance resembling lace. Touching any part of this pellicle causes the entire surface to move. The spreading, climbing behavior of the pellicle is due to excess TDM.