Fig. 7.

Autolysis assay. Overnight cultures of Strep. mutans wild-type, UA159 (▪), BrpB-deficient mutant, JB409 (○), BrpB-complemented strain, JB409C (•), BrpB- and BrpA-deficient double mutant, JB819 (Δ), and BrpB- and BrpA-complemented strain, JB819C (▴), were washed and resuspended in 100 mM PBS, pH 7.2, containing 0.2 % (v/v) Triton X-100, and the optical density at 600 nm was then monitored continuously using a Bioscreen C for 24 h. The autolysis rates of JB409 and JB819 were significantly increased as compared to the wild-type UA159. Complementation strains JB409C and JB819C showed autolysis rates restored to a level similar to the wild-type. Data presented here are representative of three independent experiments.