FIG 3 .

The relA mutation contributes to tolerance to antibiotics in biofilms. Strains were grown and allowed to form biofilms by using a peg suspension system. Biofilms were then treated with the respective antibiotics (256 µg/ml vancomycin, 50 µg/ml linezolid, and 50 µg/ml daptomycin) for 24 h. After antibiotic treatment, biofilms were washed, collected by centrifugation, and allowed to outgrow in antibiotic-free medium to ascertain an approximation of bacterial killing. Data represent the mean of three replicates; error bars represent standard deviation. For clarity, 6 h to 14 h is shown, as there was no growth prior to 6 h for drug-treated VRE.