Figure 1

Life-cycle of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (adapted from [1]). The non-feeding developmentally arrested dauer or infective juvenile (IJ) transmits a monoculture of symbiotic P. luminescens (GFP-labelled P. luminescens are shown) to the haemocoel of an insect host, where it regurgitates the bacteria. The bacteria rapidly kill the insect (usually <48) and grow to high densities allowing nematode growth and reproduction (The lower panel is an image taken from the bioluminescence of the bacteria). The nematodes grow for 2–3 generations, feeding on P. luminescence, after which (~10 d at 28°C) IJs are formed en masse, most transmitting symbiotic P. luminescens.