Fig. 5

Digestion of hemoglobin and albumin in bed bug midguts within 8-d of blood-feeding. (A) Hemoglobin digestion. Midguts were dissected from groups of wCle-present (+wCle) and wCle-free (–wCle) bed bugs at 2-d intervals immediately after blood-feeding (0-d) and up to 8-d later. Each data point represents the measured hemoglobin amount (µg) in an individual bed bug midgut. Hemoglobin digestion in wCle-free bed bugs was significantly slower than in wCle-present bugs over the 8-d period (one-way ANCOVA, F = 18.79, df = 3,78, P < 0.0001). The final hemoglobin content at 8-d post-feeding was significantly higher in wCle-free bed bugs (Welch’s t-test, t = 5.028, df = 6.16, P = 0.0022). (B) Albumin digestion. Aliquots of the same midgut samples from hemoglobin assays were used for albumin assays. Each data point represents the measured albumin amount in an individual bed bug midgut. There was a significant difference in the rate of albumin digestion between wCle-present and wCle-free bed bugs within 8-d of blood-feeding, evidenced by the non-overlapping confidence intervals after 0-d post feeding and a one-way ANCOVA on log-transformed data (one-way ANCOVA, F = 59.08, df = 4,76, P < 0.0001). The albumin content was significantly higher in wCle-free bed bugs 8-d post-feeding (Welch’s t-test, t = 6.09, df = 6.02, P = 0.0009). Red and gray 95% CIs are shown for wCle-present and wCle-free, respectively. Sample sizes at each time point are reported above the X-axis as (n = wCle-present, n = wCle-free).