FIG. 3.

Growth curves of S. mutans UA159 (WT) and its derivatives. brpA, luxS, and ccpA refer to brpA, luxS_Sm, and ccpA mutant strains, respectively. Cultures were grown in BM medium at 37°C in 5% CO₂, and growth was monitored by measuring the absorbance of the cultures at 600 nm as described in Materials and Methods.