Larvae require <i>Gr28</i> genes for efficient growth and survival when presented with HM and HMΔ food.

<p>(a) About 40 eggs were deposited in 21-well microtiter plates containing 1 of 3 different foods: all wells containing HM (black; left), HMΔ (gray; middle), or a mixture of the two (12 HMΔ and 9 HM; right). Plates with either only HM or HMΔ medium were used to determine survival rate for complete (HM) or ribonucleoside-deficient (HMΔ) food. (b) Survival is displayed as percentage of flies hatched after eggs were deposited onto plate. For statistical analysis, survival in different foods was either compared across the same genotype (<i>Control</i> [black]: <i>w</i>^<i>1118</i>, Δ<i>Gr28</i> [red]: <i>w</i>^<i>1118</i>; Δ<i>Gr28/</i>Δ<i>Gr28</i>, <i>and</i> Δ<i>Gr28 g-rescue</i> [green]: <i>w</i>^<i>1118</i>; Δ<i>Gr28/</i>Δ<i>Gr28; genGr28/+</i>), or different genotypes were compared against the same mixed food (light–dark checkered pattern). Each bar represents the mean ± SEM (<i>n</i> = 5–6). Bars with different letters represent significant difference (two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test, <i>p <</i> 0.05). The underlying data can be found in <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.2005570#pbio.2005570.s008" target="_blank">S4 Data</a>. HM, holidic medium.