FIG 4.

C-terminal truncation of the BT3147 protein promotes B. thetaiotaomicron biofilm formation. (A, top) Schematic genetic organization of the BT3147Δ9 ΔBT3146-BT3145 mutant; (middle) comparison of the biofilm formation capacities of WT B. thetaiotaomicron VPI 5482 and the indicated mutant or plasmid-containing strains; (bottom) crystal violet staining in 96-well microtiter plates. Shown is the corresponding quantification after resuspension in acetone-ethanol and the absorbance measured at 575 nm. Biofilm formation capacities of the WT (VPI 5482) have been set to 100%. Error bars indicate standard deviations from 3 biological replicates. **, P < 0.01. (B) Immunodetection of BT3147 in WT B. thetaiotaomicron VPI 5482 and the indicated mutants or complemented strains expressing either full-length BT3147 (pBT3148-47) or a truncated version of BT3147.