Fig. 3

Average 2nd derivative spectra of M. aeruginosa (a), A. oliquus (b) and A. granulata (c) grown in the mock mixed community at 15 °C and 25 °C obtained by Synchrotron FTIR micro-spectroscopy. The vertical dashed lines identify the most biologically relevant bands of cell spectra, the corresponding wavenumbers are labelled. It must be kept in mind that different macromolecules may have overlapping absorption bands. For instance, although we refer to carbohydrates when considering the spectral window 950-1200 cm^-1, other important macromolecules, such as nucleic acids, may contribute to spectral features present in this region