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. 2017 Jan 11;12(1):e0167412. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167412

Fig 1. The levels of oxidative damage are different between queens and non-reproductive workers in R. speratus.

Fig 1

Q, queens; W, workers. (A) The high caste polymorphism between queens and workers in eusocial termite R. speratus. Arrowheads indicate queens. (B) No difference in oxidative DNA damage was observed between queens and workers in control conditions (n = 6; for queen/worker: P = 0.106). However, after UV irradiation, queens showed lower levels of 8-OHdG than workers (n = 6; P < 0.001). (C) The levels of protein carboxyl were lower in the body of queens in comparison with workers in control conditions (n = 3; P = 0.019), as well as after UV irradiation (n = 3; P = 0.016). (D) Queens also had lower levels of oxidative lipid damage than workers in both control conditions (n = 3; P < 0.001) and UV irradiated conditions (n = 3; P < 0.001). We used pooled samples, shown as below (S1 Table), for each replication. White and black bars indicate control and post UV irradiation, respectively. Error bars represent standard error of the mean (SEM). Significance was measured using unpaired t test followed by Holm’s adjustment (NS, no significance; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01).