Fig. 1

Experimental workflow for in vitro dilution series and sputum. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cultured in flasks and a dilution series prepared for testing in three separate experiments: antibiotic exposure (Experiment A), heat-kill (Experiment B) and freeze-thaw (Experiment C). Sputum was collected from two distinct cohorts: one comprising patients with presumptive tuberculosis (Cohort A) and the other involving patients treated for drug-resistant tuberculosis (Cohort B). MTBC Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.