An araP mutant exhibits a significant growth defect on arabinan. (A) Growth of three B. thetaiotaomicron strains, one harboring a polar transposon insertion in the BT0356 gene (BT0356:pSAM, NS423), one deleted for the araP gene (NS401), and the isogenic wild-type strain (WT, GT23), in minimal medium containing 0.5% arabinose. (B) Growth of isogenic araP strain (NS401) and wild-type B. thetaiotaomicron in minimal medium containing 0.5% arabinan. (C) Growth of isogenic araP strain (NS401) and wild-type B. thetaiotaomicron in minimal medium containing 0.5% arabinobiose. Graphed are the mean and standard error of the mean from at least five independent replicates grown in the same plate.