Fig. 6.

Exopolysaccharides induce bacillaene expression. Monitoring the expression of bacillaene in WT B. subtilis strain and its Δeps mutant harboring P_pks-gfp reporter. The bacillaene expression was measured using imaging flow cytometry in both pellicle and suspension in for WT B. subtilis P_pks-gfp, and only in suspension for Δeps, B. subtilis P_pks-gfp mutant, due to its inability to form pellicle. A) Showing positively expressing fluorescent populations (%) at 24 h. B) Mean pixel intensity of the fluorescent positive populations as in A. C) Representative bright-field and fluorescent images related to expression of reporters in A, scale bar = 7 µm. D) Showing positively expressing fluorescent populations (%) at 72 h. E) Mean pixel intensity of the fluorescent positive populations as in A. F) Representative bright-field and fluorescent images related to expression of reporters in F, scale bar = 7 µm. Graphs A-D represent mean ± SD from three independent experiments (n = 9). Graphs B-E represent box and whiskers plots showing median and interquartile range together with maximum and minimum values and outlier points from three independent experiments (n = 9). Statistical analysis was performed using Brown-Forsthye and Welch’s ANOVA, with Dunnett’s T3 multiple comparisons test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.