Broth-cultured vs consolidation-phase P. mirabilis. Proteus mirabilis HI4320

Swarming motility by the urinary tract pathogen Proteus mirabilis has been a long-studied, but little understood phenomenon. On agar, a P. mirabilis colony grows outward in a bullseye pattern formed by consecutive waves of rapid swarming followed by consolidation into shorter cells. To examine differential gene expression in these growth phases, a microarray, constructed based on the completed genome sequence and annotation, was undertaken. RNA from 1) broth-cultured, or 2) consolidation-phase cells was extracted to assess transcription during each of these growth states. Overall design: Five independent arrays (biological replicates) were each analyzed for broth-cultured vs consolidation-phase P. mirabilis.