Fig 1. Growth-deficient phenotype of M. bovis mutants under cell culture conditions.

(A) Growth curves of strain HB0801 under co-cultivation with host cells. Serial dilutions of culture stocks were inoculated to EBL cells seeded at a density of 2 x 10⁴ cells/cm² (MEM-EBL) or incubated in the cell culture medium alone (MEM). (B) Growth phenotype of M. bovis and selected mutants under axenic (PPLO) and cell culture (EBL) conditions. Mycoplasma titers were determined after 72 h of incubation. The data are presented as the means of three independent assays. Standard deviations are indicated by error bars. p values are indicated by asterisks (**p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001). Differences were considered to be significant at p < 0.01.