Fig. 3.

Autolysis assay. Overnight cultures of Strep. mutans UA159 (▪), TW14D (▴), TW14DC (▵), TW251 (⧫), TW251C (◊) and TW314 (•) were washed and resuspended in PBS, pH 7.2, to similar optical density with inclusion of Triton X-100 (0.2 %, w/v), and the optical density of these cells was then monitored using Bioscreen C. Similar to TW14D, the OD₆₀₀ of TW251 and especially TW314 was significantly reduced after 24 h, suggesting that the autolysis rates were increased. Unlike TW14DC, however, complementation of psr in TW251C showed only slight effects. Data presented here are representative of three separate experiments.