FIG. 3.

Biofilm growth yield of T. forsythia on alternative sialic acid sources. The ability to use sialic acid and the alternative forms sialyllactose (sialyl-lac) and glycolyl sialic acid (NeuGc) to stimulate growth of T. forsythia was tested by replacing NAM (0.17 mM) with 6 mM concentrations of the other substrates. Control wells (CON) were incubated under identical conditions with TSB lacking any additional growth factors. Biofilms were incubated for 4 days before cells were washed, harvested, and counted. Means and standard deviations of three independent wells are shown. The experiment was conducted on three separate occasions with essentially identical results.