Fig. 7. Location of M. sexta DUOX in the gut, its upregulation, and effect.

a M. sexta DUOX is localized in the brush border of the midgut, experiments were repeated independently: n = 8 with similar results. b, c Western blots confirming the upregulation of M. sexta DUOX after uracil treatment (24 h). FG: foregut, aMD: anterior midgut, MD: medial midgut, pMD: posterior midgut, and HG: hindgut. * indicates a protein with the rel. molecular weight of 170 kDa (DUOX). More details about the Western blot analysis are given in Fig. S22, two-tailed Mann Whitney test, P = 0.0286, no adjustments, experiments were repeated independently: n = 7 with similar results. See the source data file for a presentation of complete, uncropped blots and gels. d Quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis of MsDUOX demonstrating the induction of M. sexta DUOX after uracil treatment (8 h) in the anterior digestive tract (FG, aMD, and MD). More details about the qPCR analysis are given in Fig. S23, n = 12, two-tailed t test, P = 0.0054, no adjustments. e–h Concentration-dependent influence of DUOX (activated by uracil) on survival and weight, g n = 21, one-way ANOVA, F(2,18) = 58.97, R² = 0.8676, P < 0.0001, h n = 288, one-way ANOVA, F(6,281) = 24.91, R² = 0.3472, P < 0.0001. i Bactericidal effect of HOCl after uracil treatment, resulting in fewer CFUs in the feces of animals treated with uracil, two-tailed Mann Whitney test, P = 0.0037, no adjustments. Survival kinetics shows the sum of the conducted experiments. Bar charts represent mean and SD. Every data point represents a single animal. The following significance levels have been used: ns = P > 0.05, * = P ≤ 0.05, ** P ≤ 0.01, *** = P ≤ 0.001 and **** = P ≤ 0.0001. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.