Figure 4

Effects of BmCatD RNAi on B. mori development. (A) BmCatD expression profile in RNAi-mediated B. mori larvae and controls. BmCatD dsRNA was injected into larvae on day 3 (RNAi-3L), 4 (RNAi-4L) and 5 (RNAi-3L) of the fifth instar, respectively. The control was the untreated larvae. Total RNA from the fat body was extracted at 1-day intervals post-treatment. The expression level of BmCatD mRNA was analyzed by Northern blot analysis. (B) Pupation rate in RNAi-mediated B. mori larvae and controls. The pupation rates are the means of three assays. Bars represent the means ± SE. (C) Internucleosomal DNA fragmentation of the fat body in RNAi-mediated B. mori larvae. DNA from the fat body cells of all treated larvae was extracted at 1-day intervals post-treatment (as described in A), respectively. DNA fragmentation was assessed by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis.