Fig. 1: Plackett–Burman and single factor screens for L-amino acid germinants.

a Schematic of the Design of Experiments (DOE) approach. b 20 L-amino acids at concentrations in Supplementary Table 3 were added in different combinations according to the Plackett-Burman (PB) design in Supplementary Table 1. Figure depicts the different combinations sorted in decreasing order (from top to bottom) of germination response expressed as ΔOD (extreme right column) as defined in Supplementary Table 4. Figure also shows the effect (bottom row) of each L-amino acid on the ΔOD, arranged in increasing order from left to right. Factors highlighted in red and green at the two extreme ends of the matrix represent the L-amino acids with the most significant antagonist and pro-germination effects respectively (ɑ = 0.0005). All data were averaged from two independent experiments with two replicates each and represent mean response values. c 20 L-amino acids at twice the concentrations in Supplementary Table 3 were added individually per well. The germination extent scatter dot plot for 20 L-amino acids as single factors is shown (mean ± SD), n = 4 biologically independent samples. Dashed line represents the 10% threshold for germination. L-amino acids are sorted according to their germination % (as defined in Supplementary Table 4), with highest to lowest from left to right. Shaded area in purple highlights L-amino acids which show significant germination compared to L-valine (Unpaired t-test, ****p < 0.0001). d Venn diagram of significant pro-germination candidates discovered through the PB screen (green) and single factor screen (purple).