Fig. 5: Effects of NaIO4, proteinase K and DNase I on cellular autoaggregation.

Bacteria cultured for 18 h were washed with PBS and adjusted to an OD600 of 3.0. The cells were then treated with NaIO4 (a), proteinase K (b) or DNase I (c) for 2 h at 28 °C. Cells were subsequently harvested and resuspended in PBS, after which 10 mM CaCl2 was added and the cultures were incubated at 28 °C for 2 h. “+“ indicates treatment with NaIO4, proteinase K or DNase I. “−” indicates treatment with PBS. The OD600 of the upper layer of the culture was measured at the same time point. Error bars represent the standard deviations from at least three independent experiments. Statistical significance was determined using a two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. ***P < 0.001.