Immunoblot analysis

Immunoblots were carried out as described [69]. Rabbit polyclonal α-PilA [50], α-PilC [71] and α-DmxB antibodies were used together with horseradish-conjugated goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G (Sigma) as secondary antibody. Blots were developed using Luminata crescendo Western HRP Substrate (Millipore). T4P were sheared from cells developed in submerged culture, purified, followed by immunoblot analyses with α-PilA antibodies as described [50]. To generate rabbit, polyclonal α-DmxB antibodies, purified DmxB-His₆ was used to immunize rabbits using standard procedures [69].