Fig. 3.

SEM and biofilm formation of S. meliloti treated with synthetic M. truncatula NCR peptides. SEM images of S. meliloti cells incubated for 3 h in phosphate buffer (A, control) supplemented with anionic (B, NCR095), neutral (C, NCR084), or cationic (D, NCR055) peptides at 8 µM. Biofilm formation was evaluated by crystal violet assays after incubation for 24 h in LSM medium with a range of NCRs with different isoelectric points (E). SEs were calculated with three biological replicates using averages based on three technical repeats. P values of <0.05, 0.01, and <0.001 are marked with one, two, or three asterisks, respectively (Student’s t test). (Scale bars, 1 µm.)