Recovery of E. coli or S. marcescens SM39 when co-cultured with wild-type S. marcescens SJC1043 or SJC1051, reciprocal betR allele exchanges in these backgrounds, or derivatives carrying in-frame deletions of tssE, cpdA1, cpdA2, crgA, cbsD, or papD, as indicated. Data are presented as mean ± SEM with individual data points overlaid (n = 4 biological replicates; ****p < 0.0001, **p < 0.01, ns not significant; one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s test; for clarity, only selected comparisons are displayed). Filled circles indicate isolates with betR and reg2 intact, and open circles indicate isolates with betR or reg2 disrupted. See also Figure S5.
