Figure 4.

Delineation of bacterial killing by different reactions in the cascade in tryptone soy broth supplemented with glucose (5 g L⁻¹). a) The number of planktonic S. aureus Xen36 or P. aeruginosa Xen41 in suspension after 3 h growth in presence of differently loaded G₄‐hydrogels. Data were expressed as means ± standard deviations over triplicate experiments with independently grown biofilms and separately prepared hydrogels. b) Relative thickness of S. aureus Xen36 or P. aeruginosa Xen41 biofilms after exposure to differently loaded G₄‐hydrogels for 8 h, setting the biofilm thickness in PBS in absence of hydrogel exposure at 100%. Data were expressed as means ± standard deviations over triplicate experiments with independently grown biofilms and separately prepared hydrogels. Biofilm thicknesses were measured on five randomly chosen spots on each biofilm. c) The number of CFU cm⁻² after exposure of S. aureus Xen36 or P. aeruginosa Xen41 biofilms to differently loaded G₄‐hydrogels for 8 h. Data represent means ± standard deviations over triplicate runs with different cultures and separately prepared hydrogels. Asterisks indicate statistical significance at ***p < 0.001 and ****p < 0.0001 (one‐way ANOVA test) between differences with respect to exposure to PBS in absence of hydrogels.