Figure 3

Genetic organization of the deviant TPS organization in cc11 isolates 2001044 and 348 and consequences in growth-inhibition activity. (A) Comparison of the TPS organization in cc11 reference strain FAM18 and the clinical isolate 2001044. (B) Comparison of the genetic organization of the TPS island in clinical isolate 348 and those in cc11 reference strain FAM18 and cc4 reference strain Z2491. In both panels, regions of high sequence similarity between the islands are indicated by grey shading. Note that the TPS organization in isolate 2001044 could have been generated by intragenomic recombination, whilst that in isolate 348 must have implicated horizontal gene transfer. (C) Unencapsulated derivatives of strains B16B6 and its ΔtpsA-tpsC mutant, both carrying an erythromycin-resistance marker, were mixed 1:1 with an unencapsulated derivative of strain 2001044 carrying a chloramphenicol-resistance marker, spotted on GC plates and incubated as described in the legend to Figure 2. The ratios of 2001044 bacteria over B16B6 (left) or B16B6ΔtpsA-tpsC mutant (right) bacteria were determined after 0 hours (gray bars) or 24 hours (white bars) of incubation by plating on GC media containing erythromycin or chloramphenicol.