Figure 2. Effects of BgKr-h1 depletion in fifth nymphal instar (N5) of Blattella germanica females.

Females received 1 injection (3 µg-dose, on day 0 of N5), or 2 injections (3 µg each, on day 0 and day 3 of N5, respectively) of dsMock (control) or dsKr-h1 (treated). (a) Effects on BgKr-h1 mRNA levels measured by qRT-PCR on days 2, 4 and 6 of N5 in single-injection experiments, or on day 6 of N5 in two-injection experiments. (b) Length (days) of N5 in control and treated female specimens. (c) Percentage of specimens showing the intermediate nymph-adult phenotype or the precocious adult phenotype in the 1- or 2-injection experiments. (d) Dorsal and ventral view of phenotypes resulting from 1- or 2-injection experiments, compared with control females in last nymphal instar and with the adult stage. (e) Dorsal part of the thorax in the intermediate nymph-adult phenotype, showing the membranous structure of the wing pads. Data in (a) represent 4 biological replicates (mean ± SEM) and are normalized against the dsMock females (reference value = 1); the asterisk indicates statistically significant differences with respect to controls (p < 0.05), according to the REST software tool⁴⁰. Replicates in (b) are indicated at the top of each bar; the asterisk indicates that differences with the respective controls are statistically significant (student’s t-test, P<0.001).