Figure 2
From: Desiccation induces viable but Non-Culturable cells in Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021
Fate of the recovered S.meliloti 1021 cells after desiccation. (A) Comparison of the fate of recovered cells after desiccation and stored for seven or 63 days (white sector = %CFU, grey sector = %cells that stain red, black sector = %cells identified as VBNC). The difference between the membrane-compromised fractions at both time points is not significant (P > 0.05). (B) Comparison of the fate of recovered S. meliloti 1021 cells over nine weeks of storage. Markers represent: black square = %CFU (Samples taken at T = 7, 14, 28, 42, 63 days with n = 27, 105, 102, 74, 27 respectively) and the white square = %dead (Red) cells (n = 10 per time-point). Error bars represent SEM. (C) Fraction of cells that lost the ability to form colonies over nine weeks. The number of VBNC cells were calculated relative to total cell number and the number of cells that stained viable. The deduced fraction of VBNC relative to green cells is represented by a black diamond and relative to all cells is white square.