FIG 1.

Eap and SrtA play redundant roles in biofilm formation. (A) Biomasses of biofilms formed by MR23 wild-type (WT), Δeap, ΔsrtA, and Δeap ΔsrtA strains grown in BHIG medium at 37°C for 24 h were determined by crystal violet staining. (B) Reduced biomass of Δeap ΔsrtA strain biofilm was complemented by providing plasmid-encoded Eap or SrtA. An empty vector (pLC1) was introduced into the WT and Δeap ΔsrtA strains as positive and negative controls, respectively. The data are presented relative to the positive control, which was designated 100%. For panels A and B, the means and standard deviations of biofilm biomasses from three independent experiments are shown. **, P < 0.01; NS, not significant. (C) Protein profiles of ECM isolated from WT/pLC1, Δeap ΔsrtA/pLC1, Δeap ΔsrtA/pEap, and Δeap ΔsrtA/pSrtA strains were analyzed by SDS-PAGE with Coomassie brilliant blue (CBB) staining. Prominent bands indicated by an arrowhead correspond to Eap (35). (D) Cell wall fractions of the indicated strains were analyzed by SDS-PAGE with CBB staining. The images are representative of results from at least three independent analyses.