FIG 3.

Quantification of prey survival and predator growth. Predator M. xanthus wild-type or myxoprincomide mutant [Δ(MXAN_3778-MXAN_3779)] cells were mixed with B. subtilis NCIB3610 prey cells in a ratio of 1:50, and the mixture was spread plated onto CFL agar. After incubation for 24 h at 32°C, cells were harvested and serial dilutions were plated onto selective medium. Predator and prey alone were used as controls. CFU were used to calculate the percentage of prey survival and predator growth relative to the controls. (A) The myxoprincomide mutant shows a reduced ability to consume B. subtilis NCIB3610. (B) The M. xanthus wild type shows no significant growth, whereas the loss of the specialized metabolite myxoprincomide results in reduced CFU. The data represent the average of the results from 3 individual eating experiments, and the error bars show the standard deviation.