A salivary chitinase of Varroa destructor influences host immunity and mite’s survival
Fig 2
Salivary gland expression of putative host regulation factors found in the predicted secretome of Varroa destructor.
(A) Relative expression data of 3 selected candidates are presented as mean fold changes of 3–4 independent biological replicates. Each replicate consisted of a pool of 5–10 mites and comprised two samples: salivary glands (SG), and rest of the whole body, deprived of salivary glands (Whole Body–SG). Values on Y-axis are reported in Log10 scale. Error bars represent standard deviation (SD). Statistically significant differences are denoted with an asterisk (P < 0.005). (B) In-situ hybridization of DIG-labeled RNA probe for the salivary chitinase (Vd-CHIsal). Salivary glands hybridized with the antisense probe showed positive blue signals, while neither background nor unspecific signals were observed when the sense probe was used (negative control). B: Brain; C: Chelicera; P: Pedipalps; Sg: Salivary glands. Scale bars: 100 μm.