PMC

(A) Genetic organization of the msa locus in the genome of L. plantarum WCFS1. (B) Molecular structure of the encoded protein Msa, implying a plausible domain organization for a bacterial adhesin. Domains with sequence similarity to proteins possibly being informative for functional domain annotations are indicated.

Agglutination of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mediated by mannose-specific adhering lactobacilli (4× diluted), as visualized by bright-light microscopy (magnification, ×200). (A) S. cerevisiae with no bacterial cells added did not agglutinate. (B) The wild-type strain L. plantarum WCFS1 induced agglutination of S. cerevisiae (see arrows). (C) L. plantarum ATCC 8014 did not cause agglutination of S. cerevisiae.

Data upon which the putative candidate genes were selected. For each gene in each strain, the P value scores averaged over overlapping clones were calculated, indicating confidence in the presence of that gene in the strain. Two calculation methods were used (see text). Indicated are the P value scores for lp_0373 using the linear method (left panel) and for lp_1229 (msa) using the quadratic method (right panel). Strains able to induce agglutination of S. cerevisiae are depicted by filled bars; strains not having this ability are represented by open bars. Gray areas indicate the P value score ranges within which perfect matches between the presence of the genes and the presence of the mannose adhesion phenotype are found.