Fig 5. Differences in spores and sporulation rates from leaves and rocks over 7 days between Sterne strain and fully virulent strains of B. anthracis.

(A) Total spores recovered from leaves, (B) total spores recovered from rocks, (C) sporulation rates on leaves, and (D) sporulation rate from rocks for the Sterne (green), Ames (UF00738, dark blue), Vollum (UF00980, light blue), Ames-like (UF01106, red) and Vollum-like (UF01103, orange) strains are presented as the mean ± SEM. Sporulation rates (spores/day) were calculated from the slope of the lines between each timepoint and graphed on a linear scale. Significant differences in total spores between the Sterne strain and all fully virulent strains were determined by Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s multiple comparisons tests with differences identified by * = ρ < 0.05, ** = ρ < 0.01. Significant differences in sporulation rates between days were determined by Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s multiple comparisons tests with leaf temporal differences identified by † = ρ < 0.05, †† = ρ < 0.01.