Fig 3. Bacillus anthracis vegetative cell viability on leaf and rock surfaces over a 7-day period.

The number of vegetative cells recovered from leaves (triangles) and rocks (circles) are reported for (A) Ames (UF00738), (B) Ames-like (UF01106), (C) Vollum (UF00980), (D) Vollum-like (UF01103), and (E) Sterne (34F2), illustrating vegetative cell persistence for at least 7 dpi. Results are shown as the mean ± SEM and graphed on a log scale. Significance between days for each strain was determined by Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s multiple comparisons tests with leaf temporal differences identified by † = ρ < 0.05 and rock temporal differences identified by # = ρ < 0.05, ## = ρ < 0.01. Significance between surface types on a single day were determined by Mann-Whitney U tests with * = ρ < 0.05.