Inhibition of preautophagosomal maturation by UPEC PldA protects against autophagy in host cells. A, Colocalization of NDP52 with the WT strain expressing GFP, ΔpldA expressing mCherry, or both strains at a 1:1 ratio in 5637 cells at 4 hpi. The arrow indicates NDP52+ bacteria, and the square frame indicates NDP52 granules. Scale bar, 5 μm. B, Quantification of the intracellular bacteria that colocalized with NDP52 relative to the total number of cells infected with either ΔpldA-mCherry alone or WT-GFP and ΔpldA-mCherry (coinfection). n = 3 slides. Data are presented as the mean ± SD. P values were determined using Student t test. Significance is indicated by the P value. Abbreviations: DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; GFP, green fluorescent protein; hpi, hours postinfection; ns, not significant; UPEC, uropathogenic Escherichia coli; WT, wild type.