Fig. 4

Silencing of DOG genes by RNA interference. A The relative expression of TuDOG11 and TuDOG16 was quantified by qPCR in adult female mites injected with dsRNA of either DOG or GFP. B Cumulative mortality. C Daily fecundity defined as the number of eggs laid by surviving mites after 24, 48, and 72 h on detached tomato leaves. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean (n = 8). Asterisks indicate a significant difference (alpha = 0.05). The relative expression of TuDOG11 and TuDOG16 after silencing was significantly different from mites treated with GFP dsRNA (P values = 0.005 and 0.006 with TuDOG11 and TuDOG16 respectively). Mortality was also significantly higher in TuDOG dsRNA-injected mites compared to GFP dsRNA-injected control mites (P values = 0.037 and 0.004 with TuDOG11 and TuDOG16 respectively). Daily fecundity was not affected by the dsRNA treatments (P values > 0.05)