The plates were dried for 30 min under a laminar flow hood, directly afterward inoculated with 3 × 108 cells within 10 μL in the centre of the plate, dried for another 10 min, and incubated at 37°C. The swarm radii were measured relative to the origin of swarming, which was demarked by the edge of the ink stained agar in the centre. We used statistics to confirm that the differences between treatments see more were not significant. Normality of the data was

confirmed with Saphiro-Wilk W test (α = 0.01). Comparison between different experimental treatments was performed by a One-Way-Analysis of Variance (α = 0.01) with NCSS software (PASS2000, Kaysville, UT). Turkey-Kramer post-hoc test was used to determine significant differences between individual factors. Dispersal assay Spot colony biofilms were grown on agar in 6-well plates filled with MSgg agar, MSgg agar + 100 μM L-NAME and MSgg agar + 75 μM c-PTIO. After 4 days of growth a 100 μL drop MSgg medium was mounted on the colonies and incubated for 2 h at RT. The drops of the experimental treatments contained 100 μM L-NAME for MSgg/L-NAME agar, 750 μM c-PTIO for MSgg/c-PTIO agar,

300 μM SNAP for MSgg selleck compound agar, and 100 μM L-NAME + 300 μM SNAP for MSgg/L-NAME agar. Next, 80 μL of the drop liquid were Selleck PD0325901 removed. The cells were fixed with formaldehyde at a final concentration of 3.7% and incubated at 4°C overnight. Cell counting was done with a flow cytometer (FACS Calibur, Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ) on the following day. Histamine H2 receptor The fixed cells were mixed with 500 μL sterile filtered, deionised water that contained fluorescent latex beads (AlignFlow, alignment beads 2.5 μm, Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR) and with 1×Cybr Green DNA stain (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR). Vegetative cells were differentiated from spores based on their size difference. Cell counts per volume could be calculated based on the number of beads counted in each run and an initial calibration of the bead solution. Germination assay MSgg medium was supplemented with the same treatments as used during the dispersal assay. Spores were prepared by growing B. subtilis in Difco sporulation medium (DSM) at

37°C for 16 h. After that time all cells in DSM were spores as determined by comparing direct plate counts to heat inactivated (80°C, 20 min) plate counts. Spores were added to MSgg and MSgg plus treatments to reach a final concentration of ~106 spores mL-1. 100 μL drops of the MSgg-spore suspensions were placed on sterile Petri dish surfaces and incubated for 2 h at RT. 80 μL of each drop were harvested and split in two parts: 40 μL were plated immediately on LB agar to determine the total cfu (vegetative cells + spores), while the other 40 μL were heated at 80°C for 20 min prior to LB-plating to determine the spore forming units. Microsensor measurements NO microprofiles were measured in the same set-up as used in the dispersal assay.