Figure 5.
Number of T. cruzi in the hind gut of R. prolixus in control (black bars) R. prolixus carrying native symbiotic R. rhodnii in the hind gut, and (hatched bars) recombinant group where R. prolixus carry genetically modified R. rhodnii, which express the gene for cecropin A peptide. Unstained metacyclic trypomastigotes were counted, using a Neubauer hemocytometer, and the count number is expressed as log10. All values are the mean of four measurements. No trypanosomes were seen in recombinant insects 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7, and the hatched bars in these columns indicate that counts were performed.