Fig. 4.

P. aeruginosa flagellar motility is required for mucin-associated biofilm erosion. a Live confocal imaging and b biofilm biomass quantification of PAO1-GFP (WT), PAO1ΔfliD-GFP, and PAO1ΔmotABCD-GFP biofilms (48 h) exposed to LB medium with or without 0.5% mucins at 0.5 μL/min flow for 1 h. Scale bars = 20 μm. Biofilm biomass was quantified using COMSTAT analysis of confocal images. Reported values represent biofilms after 1 h of exposure normalized to WT biofilms before exposure (t = 0 h). Error bars represent standard error (n ≥ 3). *P ≤ 0.05, unpaired Student’s t test