Figure 6. The effects of CCAP on heartbeat in adult male R. prolixus.

2 µg of dsRNA for the ampicillin resistance gene (dsARG) or for the RhoprCCAPR (dsCCAPR) was injected into adult male R. prolixus and 2 days after injection or no treatment heart rate was measured in vivo and in vitro. Values are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 5). Asterisk indicates significant differences between dsARG and dsCCAPR-treated groups of animals as determined by t-test (*P<0.05; **P<0.01). A) Heartbeat frequency of adult male R. prolixus was measured in vivo and was significantly lower in bugs in which RhoprCCAPR was knocked down. B) Heartbeat frequency was measured in vitro and found to be lower in dsCCAPR-treated bugs than those treated with dsARF. RhoprCCAPR knocked down bugs were also unresponsive to CCAP. White bars indicate heartbeats in saline and grey bars denote heartbeats in 10 ⁻⁹ M CCAP.