Fig. 4. Rhizoplane colonization ability in line with variations in surface motility rather than swimming ability.
A Swimming (left, 0.3% agar) and surface motility (right, 0.5% agar) abilities on the TY plate with Congo red. *, notable cracks in colonies of the exoQ, exoF, and exoP mutants. B, C Diameter of colonies under swimming (B) and surface motility (C) conditions as shown in (A). D Fluorescence stereo microscopy pictures of surface motility ability of the fadL mutant (red) and the exoF mutant (red) compared to the wild-type SF2 (WT; green) in an inoculant mixture (mixed in different ratios as follows: 1:9, 3:7, 5:5, 7:3, and 9:1). B, C Different letters indicate significant difference between means (±SEM; ANOVA followed by Duncan’s test, alpha = 0.05; three independent experiments).