Fig. 1

BTEX biodegradation capacity of the co-cultured strains, P. veronii BFHA4_7 and V. paradoxus BFB1_13, as assessed in mineral salts solution. The mean of three replicates is shown without indicating on the figure standard deviation values (STD) for a better clarity. Precise BTEX concentrations together with STD values determined at each timepoint are shown in Additional file 1: Table S1. Phase I Total concentration of BTEX used for supplementations was 10 mg l⁻¹. Phase II Total concentration of BTEX used for supplementations was 20 mg l⁻¹ Phase III Slightly reduced BTEX biodegradation capacity of the two-strain community. T0—Concentration of BTEX shortly after their addition to the test solutions. T0’—Concentration of BTEX after reaching steady-state, incubation of bottles for 1 week before bacterial inoculation