FIG. 1.

Survival of C. elegans fed on Y. enterocolitica W22703 and E. coli OP50. Nematodes were cultivated on W22703 for 15 min, 1 h, and 4 h and then transferred to E. coli OP50. Nematodes fed on only E. coli OP50 served as controls. With respect to the shortest infection time, no significant differences in the TD₅₀ values after 1 h or 4 h of infection were found (P = 0.1505 and P = 0.1003, respectively). The TD₅₀s of the worms infected with yersiniae were calculated in three independent experiments as 9.8, 9.2, and 10.6 days. The Kaplan-Meier plot is based on one experiment with three technical replicates (n ≥60 animals per curve).