FIG 7.

Impact of rad23 deletion on the virulence of B. bassiana. (A, B) Survival trends and LT₅₀ values of G. mellonella larvae inoculated by immersion in a 10⁷ conidia · ml⁻¹ suspension for normal cuticle infection and intrahemocoel injection of ∼500 conidia per larva for cuticle-bypassing infection. The asterisked bar in each bar group differs significantly from those that are unmarked (Tukey’s HSD, P < 0.05). Error bars indicate standard deviations from three replicates. (C) Microscopic images (bar, 10 μm) for hyphal bodies (arrows) and host hemocytes (HC) appearing in the hemolymph samples taken from the larvae surviving 5 days after immersion and 3 days after injection. (D) Images (bar, 10 mm) of fungal outgrowths on surfaces of insect carcasses 6 days postdeath.