Figure 3. Transcript quantification of Sc-KU-4 during successive stages of the S. carpocapsae life cycle reveals an up-regulation during the invasive phases.

Sc-KU-4 relative expression was determined by quantitative RT-PCR using 18S as an endogenous control. Nematodes in each phase were collected from parasitized G. mellonella larvae: L3-gut – third stage juveniles collected inside the gut lumen at 6 h post-exposition (HPE); L3-hem – third stage juveniles collected in the hemocoel at 12 HPE; L4 – fourth stage juveniles collected in the hemocoel 36 HPE; Adults – males and females collected in the hemocoel at 56 HPE; L1/L2 – a pool of first and second stage juveniles collected in the hemocoel at 72 HPE. Bars represent standard deviations from three independent replicates. Different letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).