Fig 5.

Growth profiles of ΔestA (A), and Δaxe (B) in CDM supplemented with 0.071% (w/v) of BSM as carbon source, and sialic acid quantification in spent culture supernates of pneumococcal strains (C). Each datum point represents the mean of five independent tests in replicates, and the vertical lines represent the standard error of mean. The pneumococcal strains were grown overnight on CDM supplemented with BSM as sole carbon source, and sialic acid levels in culture supernatant were measured. ‘ns.’ not significant; ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001 compared to wild type or double mutant.