Figure 4.
P. aeruginosa from sputum of a cystic fibrosis patient. Mucoid (large) and nonmucoid (small) colonies. The mucoid variant over-produces alginate, which is the matrix in the P. aeruginosa biofilm in the respiratory tract of cystic fibrosis patients. Mucoid colonies are only found in patients with chronic biofilm infection and alginate from mucoid colonies is therefore a biofilm-specific antigen. Høiby et al. [197].