Fig. 1

Schematic diagram and verification of the ΔrodA strain. a Strategy of construction of ΔrodA based on fusion PCR and homologous recombination. b Morphology of ΔrodA mutant strain on AMM including 1.2 M sorbitol and 200 μg/ml hygromycin. (C) PCR validation of ΔrodA mutant strain. In left panel, the PCR amplified a 0.94 kb fragment between 5’ flanking region and hygromycin fragment in ΔrodA mutant strain (Lane 1) and nothing in the wild type strain (Lane C1). In right panel, the PCR amplified a 0.455 kb fragment of rodA in the wild type strain (Lane C1 and C2) and nothing in ΔrodA mutant strain (Lane 1)