Fig. 2
Transformation from symbiotic bacteria to opportunistic pathogens results in the death of locusts. A Culturable bacterial isolates derived from hemolymph samples of locusts at 96 h post-infection (hpi) with MAC. B Quantification of relative bacterial levels in locusts’ hemolymph at 96 hpi with MAC using specific 16S rRNA primers (n = 8; 5 locusts per replicate). The heatmap illustrates log2 fold-change values. C Survival of locusts (n = 30) after injection of 5 × 105 colony-forming units (CFUs) of bacterial isolates into the hemocoel. Locusts injected with H2O serve as controls. Differences between the control and bacteria-injected groups are analyzed using the Log-rank test