Fig. 4
k-means cluster analysis, corresponding enriched GO terms, and regulatory trends of secretory pathway genes. A Samples for RNA-Seq analysis were taken from separate chemostat cultures operated at D = μ = 0.1 h−1, retentostat cultures in the chemostat phase (D = µ = 0.025 h−1; day 0), and throughout the retentostat phase (μ < 0.025 h−1; days 6, 14 and 28). Genes that were differentially expressed compared to the highest μ of 0.10 h−1 (FC ≥ 2; adj. p-value ≤ 0.01) in at least one comparison were grouped into four clusters by k-means clustering and analyzed for enriched GO terms. A comprehensive list of all enriched GO terms of the categories biological process (BP), molecular function (MF), and cellular component (CC) identified in the analysis is provided in Additional file 2. Enriched GO terms for Clusters 1 and 2 overlapped to a high degree. The main terms shared between these two clusters as well as all enriched GO terms from Clusters 3 and 4 were listed, respectively. B Total numbers of genes allocated to biological processes related to the secretory pathway and relative numbers of regulated genes. Color intensities reflect the degree of regulation of the respective group