FIG 2.

Reporter phage detection of B. anthracis Sterne 34F2. (A) Kinetics of light production by Wβ::luxAB-1 and Wβ::luxAB-2. Spores (1 × 10⁶ CFU/ml) were incubated in TSB (containing 0.1 M l-alanine) for 3 h at 35°C. Phage (final concentration, 1 × 10⁸ PFU/ml) were added, and bioluminescence was measured over time following the addition of n-decanal. (B) Detection sensitivity of Wβ::luxAB-2. Spores (1 to 100 CFU/ml) were mixed with reporter phage (final concentration, 3.4 × 10⁸ PFU/ml) and incubated in TSB (containing 0.1 M l-alanine) for 8 h at 35°C. Bioluminescence was measured following the addition of n-decanal. Values represent the means ± SD (n = 3). *, P < 0.05 (two-way ANOVA) for the signal response from Wβ::luxAB-1 compared to that of Wβ::luxAB-2 (A) or compared to that of spore-only controls (B).