dual life (IMAGE)
Caption
The "dual life" of the insect-pathogenic bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens: The primary variant (I) of the bacterium lives in symbiosis with its hosts, nematodes, which attack and kill insect larvae. Because this variant is bioluminescent, the larvae it kills glow with a blue light (left). The genetically identical secondary variant (II) cannot interact with nematodes, remains in the soil after an infection cycle, and instead interacts with plant roots (right).
Credit
ill./©: Nazzareno Dominelli, Ralf Heermann
Usage Restrictions
This image may only be used in connection with the press release "Secondary variant of Photorhabdus luminescens interacts with plant roots", issued by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz on September 24, 2020.
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