FIG. 2.

Culturability of wild-type and devR mutant strains of M. smegmatis following entry into stationary phase. Strains were grown to stationary phase under the following conditions: rich medium (A), carbon starvation (B), nitrogen starvation (C), and oxygen starvation (D), after which their viability on plates was monitored for up to 55 days. Symbols: □, wild-type strain mc²155; ▿, devR mutant OTL1. Cells were isolated from the devR mutant at day 30 when culturability of this strain had recovered (panel D). This isolate was grown under oxygen starvation conditions, and its culturability on plates is represented by a dashed line and the symbol “○.” All experiments were performed by using three independent cultures, and error bars represent the standard deviation.