Figure 1: The PMA Assay Workflow. The workflow of (A) preparing cultures of Y. pestis pgm- and vegetative B. anthracis Sterne cells for the PMA assay. The *symbol indicates the point in the workflow in which a portion of the culture is subjected to inactivation according to the procedures outlined in Materials and Methods. (B) Sample treatments with PMA, the PMA-LITETM which functions to cross-link the PMA to DNA, followed by qPCR.