Fig 7. Nutrient starvation and increased osmolarity can stimulate cross-protection against desiccation.

(A) A. baumannii cells in the exponential phase of growth were diluted 1:5 either into fresh growth medium (LB) or phosphate-buffered saline (s). After one hour of incubation at 37°C, samples of cells were taken from each culture, washed with water, and dried for one day. “Vector” refers to the cloning vector pWH1266, and pJF-bfmR carries an intact copy of bfmR. (B) A. baumannii strain ATCC 17961 was grown in LB without NaCl, and then diluted 1:5 into LB supplemented with the indicated concentrations of NaCl. After one hour of incubation at 37°C, samples of cells were taken from each culture, washed with water, and dried. For both experiments, samples from the initial inoculum and after one day of drying were diluted and spotted onto the surface of an LB plate. The data presented are representative of at least two independent experiments.