Figure 1.

Desiccation survival of different bacterial species. Overnight cultures of bacteria grown in LB medium were washed and adjusted to OD ₆₀₀ 2.0 in H₂O. A 20 μl aliquot of each standardized cell suspension was applied to polycarbonate membrane filters to achieve initial viable cell densities ranging from 2 × 10⁶ to 1.6 × 10⁷ CFU per filter (100%) which were then stored under desiccation (31% RH) at 22°C. Surviving cells were enumerated at designated time points. Gram‐positive bacteria: Bacillus subtilis JH642 (▲), Micrococcus luteus (●) (a). Gram‐negative bacterium: E. coli DH5α (b). For each experiment, mean values of at least two biological replicates are shown. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean (SEM)