 Solution

The Poisson regression uses independent counts with mean $m_i$ and logarithmic link function. Writing $c$ for concentration, the fitted predictors for strains $0,1,2$ are respectivelyThe interaction formula includes concentration, strain indicators and their products. The intercept is the baseline log mean at zero toxin; exponentiating it gives about $87.5$ fleas. Strain coefficients compare log means at zero concentration. Interaction coefficients compare concentration slopes with the common strain. A unit concentration increase multiplies the three means by about $0.751$, $1.057$ and $0.769$ respectively.

For design matrix $X$, the fitted expected Fisher information is $X^{T}WX$, $W=\mathrm{diag}({\hat{m}}_i)$, since a Poisson count has variance equal to its mean. Standard errors are square roots of diagonal entries of $(X^{T}WX{)}^{-1}$. Each reported Wald test divides its coefficient estimate by its standard error and compares with an approximate standard normal distribution under a zero-coefficient null, conditional on the other terms. Concentration has strong evidence of a negative baseline effect. At zero concentration strain 1 is not significant at 5% ($p=0.087$), while strain 2 is ($p=0.030$). The strain-1 slope differs strongly from the baseline ($p=0.000193$); the strain-2 slope has no detected difference ($p=0.808$). A nonsignificant difference is not proof of equality. The very significant intercept is a test of mean one at zero toxin, with little scientific relevance.

Relabelling factor levels merges strains 0 and 2 into one group and leaves strain 1 separate. Model $M_2$ retains three intercepts but allows only two slopes: strain 1 versus the common slope of strains 0 and 2. Thus it has five parameters, compared with six in $M_1$. Model $M_3$ merges both intercepts and slopes for strains 0 and 2, retaining only four parameters. The natural nesting is $M_3\subset M_2\subset M_1$.

For these nested generalized linear models, the difference in Poisson deviance is an asymptotic likelihood-ratio test statistic with degrees of freedom equal to the parameter difference. Comparing $M_2$ with $M_1$ gives $56.93-56.87=0.06$ on one degree of freedom, far below $3.84$: the additional strain-2 slope is unnecessary. Comparing $M_3$ with $M_2$ gives $76.98-56.93=20.05$ on one degree of freedom, far above $3.84$: merging the strain-0 and strain-2 intercepts is rejected. Comparing $M_3$ with $M_1$ uses $20.11$ on two degrees of freedom and requires a two-degree-of-freedom threshold, about $5.99$, rather than the supplied $3.84$.

$M_2$ is the most appropriate of the three models: retain different strain baselines and the special strain-1 slope, but pool the unsupported strain-2 slope difference. Residual degrees of freedom are $74,75,76$; deviances of this magnitude give no obvious evidence of overdispersion from these summaries alone.