Growth behavior (A) and poly(3HB-co-3MP) accumulation (B) of the wild type and of the mutants of R. eutropha H16 in MSM under storage conditions containing 1.0% (wt/vol) sodium gluconate and 1% (wt/vol) DTDP. After 12, 24, 36, 48, and 72 h, the poly(3HB-co-3MP) contents of the cells were analyzed by gas chromatography. (A) Growth of the wild type (×) and of the mutants H16Δ3 (•) and H16Δ8 (*). The arrows indicate the times of sample drawing. (B) Upper y axis: poly(3HB-co-3MP) content of cells. Bars for each strain from the left to the right follow the times at which samples were withdrawn from the cultivation vessel for analysis (12, 24, 36, 48, and 72 h). White bars indicate the 3HB contents (wt% of CDW) in the copolymers, whereas gray bars indicate the 3MP contents (wt% of CDW) in the copolymers. The lower y axis shows the molar 3MP contents of the corresponding copolymer bars above.