Table 1.
The strains’ GenBank accession numbers.
Fig 1.
Bacterial viability during sand storage.
CFU per gram of sand for 14 strains at inoculation (0 years), 7 years, and 14 years plotted on a log₁₀ scale. Points are means of n = 3 technical replicates per strain and time point (except Enterobacter hormaechei, 2021, n = 2); error bars represent standard deviations. Solid lines indicate spore-forming Gram-positive strains, dashed lines non-spore-forming Gram-positive strains, and dotted lines Gram-negative strains. The dashed red line marks the detection limit (~103 CFU g ⁻1); values below the limit were plotted at the limit. Underlying data are provided at Figshare (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30178384).
Table 2.
Survival metrics and phenotypic stability of bacterial strains after 7 and 14 years of storage. Log₁₀ reduction in viable counts relative to the initial inoculum after 7 and 14 years of storage in sterile sand, and estimated half-life for each strain assuming exponential (log-linear) decay of CFU g ⁻1 over time. Values are mean ± SD of log₁₀ (CFU g ⁻1) based on three technical replicates per time point (except Enterobacter hormaechei at 14 years, n = 2). Phenotypic stability indicates that the original enzymatic activity and stress-tolerance profile were maintained after storage. N/A, not estimable due to counts at or below the detection limit at 14 years.