Fig. 1: Multiple ecdysteroids are produced in MAGs and transferred to the female LRT during mating.
From: A male steroid controls female sexual behaviour in the malaria mosquito
MAGs and female LRTs (encompassing the atrium, spermatheca and parovarium) were dissected from 4-day-old (4 d) virgin males and from virgin and mated females (at 0.5, 3 and 12 h.p.m.). Ecdysteroids in these tissues were analysed by HPLC–MS/MS (mean ± s.e.m.; unpaired t-test, two-sided, false discovery rate (FDR)-corrected; NS, not significant; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. 3D20E: 3 h versus 0.5 h, P = 0.035; 12 h versus 3 h, P = 0.0015; 12 h versus 0.5 h, P = 0.030. 3D20E22P: 3 h versus 0.5 h, P = 0.25; 12 h versus 3 h, P = 0.0032; 12 h versus 0.5 h, P = 0.015). Data were pooled from three biological replicates. Peak area was calculated for each ecdysteroid of interest and normalized by mosquito numbers. Ecdysteroids are indicated by colour as follows: E, green; 20E, orange; 20E22P, purple; 3D20E, blue; 3D20E22P, pink. Insets increase the scale on the y-axis to show lower ecdysteroid levels.
