Structural Stability of Burkholderia cenocepacia Biofilms Is Reliant on eDNA Structure and Presence of a Bacterial Nucleic Acid Binding Protein
Figure 2
Labeling of IHF and eDNA within sputum collected from a CF patient culture-positive for B. cenocepacia.
Immunolabeled light micrograph demonstrates heavy labeling of both eDNA (white strands) and the DNABII protein IHF (punctate red labeling; see yellow arrows) within a sputum sample recovered from a CF patient infected with B. cenocepacia. As previously shown with nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae-formed biofilms, in those formed by B. cenocepacia, junctions where strands of bacterial eDNA cross label strongly for the presence of IHF, suggesting their role in maintaining the structural scaffolding of these biofilms. Scale bar equals 5 µm.