Figure 7.

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) relative expression in fat bod (FB) (A) and anterior midgut (AM) (B) of 5th instar nymphs of Rhodnius prolixus 7 days after feeding. The insects were previously treated with antibiotics as 4th instar nymphs and recolonized with Rhodococcus rhodnii or Serratia marcescens added to the blood meal of 5th instar nymphs. The treatments and group names are as described in Figure 1 Each bar represents the mean of relative quantification (RQ) values of 2 experiments, each with 2 pools of 5 insect tissues, with a total of 20 insects (n = 4). The relative quantification by the ΔΔCt method was performed using the control group (insects fed with blood only) as the calibrator. ΔΔCt values were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with the post-hoc Tukey test, * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001. The level of expression of the control group (arbitrarily set as 1) is shown with the dotted line. Asterisks above individual bars show significant differences to the controls, and asterisks above brackets show differences between two experimental groups.