FIG 1.
OMT production in M. xanthus. (A) A phase-contrast micrograph of a culture that had been incubated without shaking for 1 day reveals no OMTs. A fluorescence micrograph of the same field reveals long OM tubes (SSOM-mCherry reporter in DW1047; aglB1 ΔpilA). (B) Prolonged static incubation (2 days) results in abundant OMTs (SSOM-mCherry reporter in DW1165; ΔpilA aglB1 dsp-1693). The dsp mutation also contributes to higher levels of OMT. (C) A culture that had been grown in liquid medium with shaking and was harvested at mid-log phase shows short and broken OMTs (DW1047). Bar, 8 μm.