3.3. Stability and viability of co-aggregates
The co-aggregates were subjected to various treatments to test the stability (Table 2). The co-aggregate percentage was found to decrease greatly after proteinase K and EDTA treatments. Stability was not altered to significant level after urea or heat treatment. However, sonication of the cultures increased the co-aggregation. After thermal treatment, the strains still grew well on nutrient agar media and formed well defined colonies. The colonies survived even after one week of desiccation and both observations indicating the viability of co-aggregation..