FIG 5.

Biofilm formation by wild-type NCTC11638, an alpB mutant strain (NCTC11638ΔalpB), and NCTC11638ΔalpB with TK1402 alpB restored (NCTC11638ΔalpB/alpB₁₄₀₂). (A) Intact alpB from strain TK1402 was restored into the NCTC11638ΔalpB strain, and biofilm-forming ability was analyzed. The results were expressed as the means ± 1 standard deviation from at least three independent experiments. (B) CV-stained biofilms of wild-type TK1402 (TK1402), wild-type NCTC11638 (NCTC11638), and the NCTC11638ΔalpB and NCTC11638ΔalpB/alpB₁₄₀₂ strains grown on the surfaces of glass coverslips in brucella-FCS. An asterisk indicates significant difference (P < 0.05) relative to the level of wild-type NCTC11638 biofilm biomass.