Fig. 3.

Populations of Pf0-1 and alg mutants in moist soil (a) and soil dried to 30 % WHC 2 days after inoculation (b). Each soil sample was inoculated with the same number of bacteria. Both panels show that each alg mutant was defective in colonization of moist soil (day 1 samples). Dehydration caused a decline in wild-type and mutant populations, with mutants being more dramatically affected. Experiments were carried out at least three times. Data were analysed by two-way ANOVA with post-hoc Dunnett’s multiple comparison test. Error bars show the standard error.