Fig 5. Fitness cost of the overexpression of Dcr2 and R2D2 in the midgut under the carboxypeptidase gene promoter (AeCpA) after a blood meal.

CpA-Dcr2 and CpA-R2d2 transgenic mosquitoes are abbreviated as Dcr2 and R2d2, respectively. (A) Fecundity of WT and transgenic Ae. aegypti, as represented by the number of eggs produced by each female mosquito. (B) Hatching rates of the transgenic mosquitoes’ eggs as compared to WT control Liverpool mosquitoes. Statistical analyses were performed using the Mann–Whitney test with GraphPad Prism 8 software with 3 biological replicates and 50 female mosquitoes in each replicate in (a, b). (C) Pupation rates of transgenic CpA-Dcr2 and CpA-R2d2 Ae. aegypti mosquitoes. Two hundred larvae in each biological replicate, at least 3 biological replicates were included. (D) Wing lengths as a measure of the adult transgenic mosquito body size showed no differences between female or male transgenic CpA-Dcr2 or CpA-R2d2 mosquitoes and WT adult mosquitoes. Twenty mosquitoes for each biological replicate and 3 biological replicates were included. (E and F) Lifespan of female mosquitoes maintained on 10% sucrose solution and those of female mosquitoes provided 1 blood meal to induce the expression of the transgenes CpA-Dcr2 and CpA-R2d2. Statistical analyses of survival were done with the Kaplan–Meier survival test through GraphPad Prism 8 software. *** P < 0.001. Three biological replicates were included with at least 50 female mosquitoes in each replicate. Data underlying this figure can be found in S2 Data. WT, wild type.