FIG 5.

Effect of ecnA mutation on xanthan gum production. (A) Xanthan gum production by the wild type (wt), ecnA::Tn5 mutant, and complemented (ecnA::Tn5_c) strains. (B) Crude xanthan gum from the wild type and dried xanthan from the ecnA mutant. (C) Xanthan gum production by the wild type (wt), ecnA::Tn5 and ΔencA mutant, and complemented (ecnA::Tn5_c) strains. The data are the means of triplicate measurements from a representative experiment; similar results were obtained in two other independent experiments. *, significant difference (P < 0.05); ns, no significance. Error bars indicate the standard deviation of the mean.