FIGURE 4.

The espE, espF, espG, and espH genes also function in biofilm formation. Cells were stained with 1% CV and OD_490nm was measured after 10 min. (A) Biofilm formation by the deletion mutants (∆espE, ∆espF, ∆espG, and ∆espH) and M. marinum NTUH-M6885 (wild-type), and quantitation of these results in all four strains (right). The quantification of biofilm was used for normalization, with the wild-type diameter being assigned a value of 1. All deletion mutants were compared with the wild-type strain. Means and SDs from three independent experiments from triplicates were calculated with one-way ANOVA (^∗∗∗p < 0.001). (B) Biofilm formation in complemented strains, and quantification of these results in all 9 strains (right). The quantification of biofilm was used for normalization, with the wild-type diameter being assigned a value of 1. All deletion mutants were compared with the wild-type strain and their corresponding complemented strain. Means and SDs from three independent experiments from triplicates were calculated with one-way ANOVA (^∗∗∗p < 0.001).