Deletion mutations can affect the growth of <i>Escherichia coli</i>, and the production of light from bacterial luciferase.

<p><i>E. coli</i> Keio strains, and the parental BW25113 strain, were transformed with a bacterial luciferase expression vector (pIMBB-T5-<i>lux</i>). The transformants were shaken in minimal medium at 37°C for 48 hours; the optical density at 600 nm (green or blue) and luminescence (red) were recorded every 30 minutes. Data from the (A) parental <i>lux</i>/BW25113 control, and three representative Keio transformants, (B) <i>lux</i>/Δ<i>ybhC</i>, (C) <i>lux</i>/Δ<i>lon</i> and (D) <i>lux</i>/Δ<i>fiu</i>, are presented here. The growth curves of the three Keio strains differ from that of the BW25113 control, but the luminescence curves are all similar in shape.