Fig. 3

Germination of C. sporogenes spores in MCTS. HT-29 MCTS were infected with 1 × 10³ spores and incubated for 7 days. Cryosections of MCTS were then stained for spores (FITC-conjugated antiserum, green). Nuclei and DNA of vegetative bacterial cells were stained with Hoechst (blue). Images were acquired with a ×10 (in a scale bar 100 µm), or ×100 (in b, c scale bars 10 µm) objective. Higher magnification images in b, c are acquired at locations inside the hypoxic area of MCTS. The inset in the upper right corner of c is a digital zoom on the image part marked with a white box. Images are composite of both fluorescence channels and one representative image of three independent experiments is shown