Inactivation of the <i>cje1441</i> eDNase gene restores biofilm formation by <i>C</i>. <i>jejuni</i> strain RM1221.

<p>(A) shows biofilm formation of NCTC 11168 (white bar), Δ<i>1441</i> (dark grey bar), RM1221 (black bar) and a Brucella medium only control (light grey bar). The Δ<i>1441</i> mutant shows similar levels of biofilm formation to NCTC 11168 and a significant increase in biofilm formation compared to the parent strain RM1221. (B) Shows that the biofilm produced by the Δ<i>1441</i> mutant is susceptible to degradation by DNase I (white bar) and leads to levels of staining indistinguishable from the Brucella medium only control (black bars). (C) Shows biofilm formation of the Δ<i>1441</i> mutant following secondary co-culture with strain NCTC 11168 (white bars), the Δ<i>1441</i> mutant (dark grey bars), Brucella medium (black bars), or the RM1221 parent strain (light grey bars) showing that deletion of <i>cje1441</i> inhibits the biofilm degrading ability of RM1221. Bars represent the median, error bars show range and significance was measured using Mann-Whitney tests (* = <i>P<0</i>.<i>05</i>).