Fig. 4: Comparative transcriptome analysis of A. gambiae gene expression for L-DOPA-fed and sugar-fed female mosquitoes.

a Volcano plot of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in whole (headless) mosquitoes. Significantly upregulated and downregulated genes are highlighted in red and blue spots, respectively. b DEGs by gene ontology category in whole L-DOPA-fed female mosquitoes compared with sugar-fed (control) females. Differential gene expression was considered significant when the expression fold change (L-DOPA-fed versus sugar-fed) was ≥1.3 on a -log₁₀ scale (p < 0.05). Categories are R/S/M, oxidoreductive, stress-related, and mitochondrial. c Volcano plot of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in mosquito midguts. Significantly upregulated and downregulated genes are highlighted in red and blue spots, respectively. d DEGs by gene ontology category in midguts from L-DOPA-fed female mosquitoes compared with sugar-fed females. Differential gene expression was considered significant when the expression fold change (L-DOPA-fed versus sugar-fed) was ≥1.3 on a -log₁₀ scale (p < 0.05). Categories are R/T/T, replication, transcription, and translation; R/S/M, oxidoreductive, stress-related, and mitochondrial. RNA-seq data were analyzed with Partek Flow NGS Software; Fold changes vs mean normalized counts were generated using DESeq2 (Median Ratio) for A. gambiae female mosquitoes L-DOPA-fed and sugar-fed control library replicates, whole mosquitoes or midguts.