Figure 1: Feeding minocycline to larvae suppresses larval development by delaying pupation time.
(a) The cumulative percentage of the puparia population formed is shown over time. For determining pupation time, the number of puparia formed was counted every 6 hours AEL (After egg laying) when wild-type larvae (w1118) entered late 3rd larval stage. (b) The bar graph shows time when 50% of animals pupated. The pupation time is delayed in a dose-dependent manner when larvae are fed minocycline. Three vials, each containing ~50 larvae were examined per treatment (a,b). Increases in the mRNA levels of E74 (FBgn0000567) (c) and BR-C (FBgn0283451) (d), two early response genes of ecdysone signaling, as the larvae develop toward pupation. We isolated total RNA from five mid 3rd instar larvae (96 h AEL) and three late 3rd instar larvae (110 h and 120 h AEL), respectively. Minocycline feeding suppresses the increases inE74 and BR-C. The expression level of E74 and BR-C were normalized by Rp49 mRNA level. The values were from three independent experiments. (e) The pupation time is partially rescued when minocycline-feeding larvae are supplemented with 20E from early 3rd larval stage (72 h AEL). (f) The bar graph shows time when 50% of animals pupated. Three vials, each containing 30 larvae, were examined per treatment. The values were from three independent observations, each with 30 larvae. Graphs represent mean ± S.D. *p < 0.05 when compared to the respective controls (t-test).
