FIG. 3.

Viability during long-term amino acid starvation of wild-type and Δhfq strains. Cells were grown in IMM containing amino acids at a concentration of 0.002%. After the cells entered the stationary phase, they were incubated for 20 days. Samples were taken at the times indicated to determine viability. The arrow indicates the sampling time for the Δhfq mutant when no survivors were detected. The limit of detection was 25 CFU ml⁻¹. Symbols: •, wild-type strain; ○, Δhfq mutant. The error bars indicate standard deviations based on duplicate experiments.