Figure 4

Effects of miR-252-3p depletion on nymphal development of Blattella germanica . Treated females received two injections of 50 μM of miR-252-3p LNA on day 1 and day 3 of fifth nymphal instar (N5D1 and N5D3, respectively); control females received an equivalent treatment with miRCURY LNA™ microRNA Inhibitor Negative Control A. A) Levels of miR-252-3p and miR-1-3p (used as negative control) on N5D6. B) Same data in N5D13. C) General aspect of a control specimen and a specimen treated with miR-252-3p LNA (LNA-treated) on N5D6. D) Weight of control and LNA-treated specimens in N5D6. E) Length (days) of N5 in control and LNA-treated specimens. qRT-PCR data in A and B represent 3 biological replicates and are normalized against the control females (reference value = 1); the asterisk indicates statistically significant differences with respect to controls (p < 0.05) according to the REST software tool [28]. Data in D and E represent 17 biological replicates; the asterisk indicates statistically significant differences with respect to controls (t-test, p < 0.01).