Fig. 7.

Growth of S. maltophilia strains in bacteriological media. (a) Equal numbers of c.f.u. of strains K279a (▪) UPSm1 (▴), UPSm2 (▵), UPSm3 (□), UPSm4 (○) and UPSm5 (⧫) were inoculated into LB broth, and then the growth of the cultures was monitored spectrophotometrically. Data are the mean±sd obtained from replicate samples and are representative of three independent experiments. The slightly reduced optical density readings for the UPSm2 cultures were only significant at the 205 min time point (Student's t test, P<0.05). Although the UPSm3 cultures were started at a slightly higher optical density in order to ensure equal c.f.u. at the outset, they subsequently displayed a growth pattern that was akin to that of the other strains. (b) As indicated, 10-fold dilutions of the five S. maltophilia strains were spotted onto LB agar and then incubated at 37, 30 and 25 °C. After 1 day of incubation, growth was recorded. The patterns of growth depicted here were observed on three independent occasions.