Fig. 5

Fecal/gut bacteria influence S. stercoralis physiology. a Survival of S. stercoralis free-living adult females cultured on either E. coli, E. fergusonii, or P. mirabilis. Worms were placed on plates containing the indicated bacteria as young adults, and percent survival was monitored daily. n = 19 worms for each condition. **p< 0.01, log-rank test with Bonferroni post-test comparing each condition to every other condition. The only significant difference is noted. Error bars show standard error. b Culturing S. stercoralis free-living adults on different fecal bacteria did not affect the number of eggs laid per day. No significant effect of bacteria was detected (two-way repeated measures ANOVA). n = 13–17 worms for each condition. Medians and interquartile ranges are shown. c Culturing S. stercoralis free-living adults on P. mirabilis resulted in fewer hatched eggs per day. Graph shows the percentage of eggs that hatched every 24 h after free-living young adult females were allowed to mate on the indicated bacteria. *p< 0.05, **p< 0.01, ****p< 0.0001, ns = not significant, two-way repeated measures ANOVA with Tukey’s post-test. Statistical significance for each comparison is noted above the graph. n = 12-16 worms for each condition. Medians and interquartile ranges are shown. d P. mirabilis decreased egg hatching. Graph shows the percentage of hatched eggs 48 h after free-living young adult females were allowed to mate on the bacteria. ****p< 0.0001, ns = not significant, Brown-Forsythe and Welch ANOVA with Dunnett’s T3 post-test comparing each condition to every other condition. n = 13–14 worms for each condition. Medians (solid lines) and interquartile ranges (dashed lines) are shown. e There was no significant difference in the percentage of hatched eggs after 48 h when older, gravid free-living adult females were placed on P. mirabilis (unpaired, two-tailed Welch’s t test). n = 12 worms for both conditions. Medians (solid lines) and interquartile ranges (dashed lines) are shown