A Tad pilus promotes the establishment and resistance of Vibrio vulnificus biofilms to mechanical clearance

Homology of the tad loci of V. vulnificus. Top, mauve alignment of the tad locus of A. actinomycetemcomitans and the tad-1, tad-2, and tad-3 loci of V. vulnificus. The loci are shown arranged centered on the conserved tadA gene. Coding sequences are yellow and flp pilin genes are green. Highly conserved regions between the loci are denoted by colored traces above the ORFs. The pilin genes of the tad-2 locus are labeled a and b. The length of each locus is shown at the top of each panel. Bottom, distance matrix surface plot of the tad genes of the loci above. Homologous gene clusters form peaks, the height of which indicates the percent of homology. Only clusters with >25% homology are shown (legend on the right). flp and tad genes are shown in black lettering and rpc genes are in white letterin