Fig. 2.

Formation of aggregates after addition of human plasma. (a) The average size of aggregates formed by S. epidermidis 1585 WT increases significantly at 1 h after the addition of 10 % (v/v) human plasma [*P<0.05 (two-tailed), Mann–Whitney U=0; median]. One data point represents one biological replicate and 20 technical replicates with >20000 measurements. (b) Aggregate size distribution in time after the addition of human plasma (% of biomass) reveals the emergence of large aggregates after 24 h, although this is not statistically significant due to the large variation [Mann–Whitney test (two-tailed), P>0.05]. (c) Phase-contrast microscopy of suspended aggregates formed over time by S. epidermidis 1585 in BHI with 10 % (v/v) human plasma.