Fig. 5. NlToEVE14 is essential for the development and fecundity of Nilaparvata lugens, as revealed by CRISPR/Cas9 and RNA interference experiments.
a The KO-M1 strain, which is a homozygous mutant of Nilaparvata lugens for a 4 bp deletion in NlToEVE14. b The KO-M1 strain exhibited significantly prolonged nymph development stages compared to those of the wild-type strain (WT). n = 45 and 38 individuals in WT and KO-M1, respectively. c Knockout of NlToEVE14 (KO-M1) reduced the longevity of both male and female adult N. lugens. n = 34, 25, 37, and 31 individuals in WT female, WT male, KO-M1 female and KO-M1 male, respectively. In the KO-M1 strain, the fecundity of N. lugens was significantly decreased compared to that of the WT, including the number of eggs (d), the hatch rate (e), and the number of nymph offsprings (f). n = 20 and 16 independent biological replicates in WT and KO-M1, respectively. The effects of NlToEVE14 knockdown on N. lugens fecundity when dsNlToEVE14 was injected into individual 3rd instar nymphs (g) or adults (h) compared to the control (dsGFP). In g, n = 20 independent biological replicates in both dsGFP and dsNlToEVE14. In h, n = 19 and 16 independent biological replicates in dsGFP and dsNlToEVE14, respectively. Bars in violin plots correspond to the medians. P values were determined by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001; NS not significant. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.