Pyocyanin complementation of a P. aeruginosa PA14 pqsE− strain transformed with the PqsE variants and the predicted free energy variation caused by each point mutation.

aPyocyanin production (mg/L) was measured in triplicate as described in the experimental procedures. The mean value (± standard deviation) is shown. b Free energy variations caused by point mutants of PqsE, as predicted by the PoPMuSiC software (v.2). c Calculated solvent accessibility for each WT residue, ranging from 0 (fully buried in the protein core) to 1 (fully accessible to the solvent).