Analysis of the capsule polymer and surface hydrophobicity profiles of strains NMB-CDC and MC58.

<p>Panel A. Physical modality and length of the capsule polymers of both strains are the same. Purified capsule preparations (5 µg [lanes 1 and 3] and 10 µg [lanes 2 and 4]) from strains MC58 (lanes 1 and 2) and NMB (lanes 3 and 4) were separated by DOC-PAGE and silver stained. Panel B. Comparison of surface hydrophobicity of strains NMB-CDC and MC58 using HIC. Surface hydrophobicity of strains NMB-CDC (A) and MC58 (B) with their respective isogenic mutants (non-encapsulated, M7 and MC58Δ<i>synB</i> and hyper-encapsulated variants, NMBΔ<i>misR</i> and MC58Δ<i>misR</i>) were assessed by interaction chromatography. The proportion of bacteria eluted from the column was determined by optical density and is presented relative to the isogenic non-encapsulated control (M7 for NMB and MC58Δ<i>synB</i> for MC58). The average of at least three biological repeats (+/−SEM) for each strain is shown. *: <i>p</i>&lt;0.01 determined by unpaired t-test compared to the non-encapsulated controls.