Fig. 6: ΔoprF suppressors grow normally and recover wild-type morphology but fail to resist T6SS attacks.

A Image of P. aeruginosa strains lacking tssM1 and oprF or not, growing on an LB without salt or regular LB (170 mM NaCl) agar plate after overnight incubation at 37 °C. B Growth curves of parental and suppressor strains of P. aeruginosa (Pa) ΔtssM1 ΔoprF in LB without salt. Mean OD_600nm is indicated by continuous lines, and the shading around the lines represents the standard deviation. C Fluorescence microscopy images of parental and suppressor strains of P. aeruginosa lacking tssM1 and oprF. In gray scale, phase contrast channel. In yellow, staining with FM4-64 (membrane dye). These are representative micrographs from three biological replicates. D CFU counts showing the survival of prey P. aeruginosa strains when competed against T6SS-active or –inactive V. cholerae (Vc) in a 1:1 attacker to prey ratio. The bars indicate the mean across three independent biological replicates, the error bars indicate the standard deviation. Each biological replicate represents one data point. Data were analyzed with ordinary two-way ANOVA and Sidak’s correction for multiple comparisons. Statistically significant adjusted p-values are indicated with asterisks and are *0.0177 and ****<0.0001. The datapoints are colored according to the Pa strain used. E Growth curve of wild-type and mutant P. aeruginosa strains lacking oprF and gacA or not in LB without salt. Mean OD_600nm is indicated by continuous lines, and the shading around the lines represents the standard deviation. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.