FIG 1.

Growth in rich medium for B. subtilis strains containing deletions in putative magnesium transport proteins. (A) A total of four putative magnesium transporters were identified and were then individually deleted from the B. subtilis genome. Only the ΔmgtE mutant exhibited a measurable decrease in growth rate or yield under these conditions. (B) Combinations of deletion mutants were tested, revealing that mutation of a second putative magnesium transporter (yfjQ) further reduced growth yield when combined with the ΔmgtE mutation. The growth of cultures was measured by a Klett meter.