Table 2.

M. magneticum densities, behavior with respect to the magnetic field, and detection results using HDT and PCR.

Dilution	HDT				PCR		Significance by group*
	North seeking bacteria	South seeking bacteria	Total count of bacteria	[pos./neg.] [1,0]	MamQ [pos./neg.] [1,0]	MamT [pos./neg.] [1,0]
10–4	N/A	N/A	≥ 50	1	1	1
10–4	N/A	N/A	≥ 50	1	1	1
10–4	90%	10%	≥ 50	1	1	1
10–4	90%	10%	≥ 50	1	1	1
				4/4	4/4	4/4	P > 0.5
10–5	40%	60%	≥ 50	1	1	1
10–5	50%	50%	≥ 50	1	1	1
10–5	90%	10%	≥ 50	1	1	1
10–5	90%	10%	≥ 50	1	1	1
				4/4	4/4	4/4	P > 0.5
10–6	50%	50%	≥ 50	1	1	1
10–6	50%	50%	≥ 50	1	1	1
10–6	80%	20%	≥ 50	1	1	1
10–6	70%	30%	≥ 50	1	1	1
				4/4	4/4	4/4	P > 0.5
10–7	N/A	N/A	4	1	0	0
10–7	N/A	N/A	8	1	0	0
10–7	N/A	N/A	35	1	1	1
10–7	N/A	N/A	20	1	1	1
10–7	17	22	39	1	0	0
10–7	40	4	44	1	0	0
				6/6	2/6	2/6	0.0057
10–8	3	3	6	1	0	0
10–8	8	1	9	1	0	0
10–8	3	0	3	1	1	1
10–8	3	1	4	1	1	1
				4/4	2/4	2/4	0.0632
10–9	1	0	7	1	0	0
10–9	3	0	3	1	0	0
10–9	3	1	4	1	0	0
10–9	1	0	1	1	0	0
				4/4	0/4	0/4	0.0009
10–10	0	0	0	0	0	0
10–10	0	0	0	0	0	0
10–10	0	0	0	0	0	0
10–10	0	0	0	0	0	0
				0/4	0/4	0/4	P > 0.5

At 10^–9 fold dilutions, HDT can detect up to 1 single observable cell, whereas the PCR method is not able to detect the presence of the MTB. P values indicate the difference using a binomial distribution test with a logit link function. When examining the sensitivity difference in all these lower concentrations together, these differences are highly significant (X² = 19.74, p < 0.0001). N/A refers to not being assessed.