Figure 4. Expression of BgKr-h1 and effects of its depletion in Blattella germanica males.
Males received a single dose of 3 µg on day 0 of fourth (N4) or fifth (N5) nymphal instar of dsMock (control) or dsKr-h1 (treated). (a) Expression of BgKr-h1 in male whole body in selected days of N5 and N6. (b) Effects of dsKr-h1 on BgKr-h1 mRNA levels measured by qRT-PCR in specimens treated on N4 (transcript measured on day 4) or on N5 (transcript measured on day 6). (c) Length (days) of N5 in male specimens treated in N4 or N5. (d) Phenotype (dorsal and ventral view) resulting from the experiments carried out on N4 after two molts or in N5 after one molt. (e) Tip of the abdomen showing the area occupied by the tergal glands (TG) in the seventh and eighth tergites. Data in (a) represent the mean ± SEM, and are indicated as copies of BgKr-h1 mRNA per 1000 copies of BgActin-5c; each point represents 4 biological replicates. Data in (b) 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 (c) 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).