FIG 7.

Measurement of hemocyte lysate of G. mellonella larvae used as a heme source for R. anatipestifer CH-1 in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, strain CH-1 ΔhemH was tested for heme utilization efficiency on a GCB plate as described in Materials and Methods. After 24 h, growth around discs containing duck Hb or hemocyte lysate from G. mellonella larvae was observed (A). In vivo, strains CH-1/pLMF03 (B), CH-1 ΔhemH/pLMF03 (C), and CH-1 ΔhemH/pLMF03::hemH (D) were infected with G. mellonella larvae. After 2, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h, the bacterial load in larvae was recorded. Six live larvae at each time point were killed for these assays. These results were repeated 4 times. Each error bar represents 1 SD from the mean.