Visualization of <i>Bp</i> biofilms and ECM components on HBE cells.

HBE cells infected with GFP-expressing WT (A-D), ΔbpsA-D (E-H), or ΔfhaB (I-L) strains for 24 h (A-B, E-F, I-J) or 48 h (C-D, G-H, K-L) were fixed and stained for Bps (α-PNAG, red) and eDNA (α-dsDNA, blue), then imaged using an Olympus FV3000 confocal microscope (20X objective). B, D, F, H, J, and L are zoomed in images of A, C, E, G, I, and K, respectively. Z-stacks were acquired at 1-μm intervals. IMARIS software was used to produce a shading picture of the biofilms.