Fig. 1.

Contribution of Ebp pili to E. faecalis intercellular aggregation leading to mixed colony formation. OG1RF and its Ebp⁻ isogenic mutant (TX5608; OG1RFΔebpABC) were tested for the ability to form mixed colonies (co-aggregates) with OG1SSp and a non-piliated OG1SSp derivative (TX5756; OG1SSpΔebpABC). Mixed colonies were identified by replica plating from BHI broth-grown cells inoculated from ‘apparent’ single colonies onto BHI agar supplemented with 25 mg fusidic acid l^− 1, and onto BHI agar supplemented with 2000 mg streptomycin l^− 1 and 500 mg spectinomycin l^− 1. Values represent means ± sd of three independent experiments. Statistical analyses were performed by unpaired t-test.