Extended Data Fig. 3: Reduction of the V. cholerae seeding cell density in flow chambers does not result in 3D biofilm formation in the absence of phages.
From: Bacteria use exogenous peptidoglycan as a danger signal to trigger biofilm formation
Experiments were performed at 37 °C in flow chambers through which LB medium was flowed after inoculating the channel with a bacterial seeding population of a given cell concentration, as described in the Methods section. a-d, Quantification of the total biovolume (grey bars) and biovolume with height H > 3 µm (coloured bars) of V. cholerae cells grown in microfluidic chambers with continuous flow without phages. Bacteria were diluted to different starting concentrations for seeding the flow channels: a, 108 CFU mL−1 (black; represents the same condition as Fig. 1c, unexposed); b, 107 CFU mL−1 (blue); c, 106 CFU mL−1 (purple), d, 105 CFU mL−1 (yellow). None of these different seeding concentrations resulted in substantial 3D biofilm formation, that is biovolume above H > 3 µm. Bars are mean values with individual data points denoting n = 3 biological replicates and error bars indicate the standard deviation. e, Confocal image time series of V. cholerae cells (yellow, constitutively producing sfGFP), inoculated at an initial cell density of 105 CFU mL−1, grown in the absence of phages.
