Figure 7. Evolved mutants and ancestor mutants hosting the evolved phage have increased incorporations into the pellicle.

Competition assay between the WT ancestor and Δeps–ΔtasA ancestor (control) (n=7); between the WT ancestor and three single colonies obtained after transduction of the Δeps–ΔtasA ancestor with phage particles released by eNMP B410mB (n=2); and between the WT ancestor and eMPs (B310wtA, B410wtB, and B510wtC) with deleted eps and tasA (n=10; n=10; n=7, respectively). Boxes represent Q1–Q3, lines represent the median, and bars span from max to min. Each competition assay in parallel with the ancestor WT versus Δeps–ΔtasA was replicated at least twice.