FIG 8.

Model of extended life cycle of 2° cells in soil. As only 1° cells are able to reassociate with the nematodes and emerge from the cadaver, 2° cells are left behind in the soil. Based on our transcriptome data, it seems likely that 2° cells are better adapted to free living in soil and thereby are able to survive changing and challenging environmental conditions but also develop strategies to utilize alternative nutrients which are present in soil and which are most likely derived from plants. Eventually, they may find a yet unknown way to reenter the life cycle of P. luminescens.