Fig. 3.

The effects of LL3-silencing on Plasmodium survival vary between mosquito strains. Oocyst numbers were examined in the TEP1 mutant line and Keele strain after injection of dsGFP (control) or dsLL3 at day 2 and day 8 following P. berghei infection. Significant losses in parasite numbers were detected for both the dsGFP-treated control and LL3-silenced mosquitoes at day 8 (a), while LL3 silencing did not influence on early oocyst development at day 2 in the TEP1-Mut line. In contrast, oocyst survival is increased following LL3-silencing in the Keele stain (b). Oocyst numbers were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis with a Dunn’s post-hoc test (a) or by Mann-Whitney analysis (b). Asterisks denote significance (*P < 0.05). Abbreviation: ns, not significant