Fig 5. Cell-contact dependent growth competition of L. monocytogenes strains.
L. monocytogenes strains (A) PL25-RifR and (B) ScottA-StrR were grown alone (single), mixed (contact) and in the presence of the second L. monocytogenes strain separated by a 0.4 μm membrane (no-contact) in TSB-Y for 10 days at 10°C. Data represented as log (CFU/ml) are mean values ± standard deviation of three biological replicates performed in duplicate. Different letters indicate statistically significant differences between single culture, contact and non-contact co-cultivation at the different time points (P<0.05).