FIG. 2.

Quantitative analysis of biofilm populations of the wt and phase-locked mutant strains in silicone tubing continuous flow devices. Log phase cultures of each strain (OD₆₀₀, ∼0.5) were inoculated into a section of silicone tubing that had first been primed with medium. The cells were allowed to attach to the tubing for the designated time points, followed by the continuous passage of growth medium through the tubing for 48 h. The tubings were then longitudinally sectioned, and the biofilm-grown cells were harvested, resuspended, and enumerated by plate counts (see Materials and Methods). The number of bacteria obtained for each strain was normalized to that recovered from the wt strain, which is represented as 100%.