FIG 5.

Alterations in the PG muropeptide composition of P. mirabilis and V. parahaemolyticus swarmer cells. (A) UPLC-MS data reveal that the muropeptide compositions of P. mirabilis and V. parahaemolyticus vegetative and swarmer cells differed slightly in the abundances of monomers, dimers, and anhydrous-substance-terminated saccharides. (B) We observed a relative increase in the amount of anhydrous-substance-containing saccharides in swarmers consistent with a decrease in polysaccharide strand length. (C) There was no change in PG cross-linking of P. mirabilis and V. parahaemolyticus vegetative and swarmer cells, although V. parahaemolyticus did display a lower level of cross-linking. n = 3 biological replicates. Error bars represent the standard deviations of the means. For (panels A to C, significance was determined via two-way analysis of variance: *, P ≤ 0.05; **, P ≤ 0.01; ***, P ≤ 0.001; ****, P ≤ 0.0001; ns, not significant (P > 0.05).