FIG 1.

(A) Attachment of V. vulnificus C-genotype strains (C7184, CMCP6, M06-24, and YJ016) and E-genotype strains (JY1305, JY1701, ENV1, and SS108-A3A) to chitin magnetic beads. Error bars represent the standard errors of the means for three replicates of the four strains. E-genotype attachment to chitin was significantly greater than C-genotype attachment (P = 0.0182 by an unpaired Student t test). (B) Microscopic quantification of chitin attachment by V. vulnificus C-genotype (C7184) and E-genotype (JY1305) strains. Error bars represent the standard errors of the means for 10 replicate beads. JY1305 attachment to chitin was significantly greater than that of C7184 (P < 0.0001 by an unpaired Student t test with Welch's correction). (C) Competitive chitin attachment of V. vulnificus C- and E-genotype strains incubated in coculture. Two competitions were performed (M06-24 versus Env1 and C7184 versus JY1305). Error bars represent the standard errors of the means for the two competition studies with triplicate replicates. In coculture, E-genotype cell attachment to chitin was significantly greater than C-genotype cell attachment (P = 0.0045 by a Student t test).