Effects of RNAi-mediated silencing of methyl farnesoate epoxidase (mfe) gene function on major control genes of JH biosynthesis and metabolism and on the hemolymph JH titer.

Newly-emerged adult workers were injected with 3 µg mfe dsRNA or GFP dsRNA or left untreated. The bees were collected 7 days after the treatment. (A) mfe transcript levels determined by RT-qPCR using whole body RNA. (B) JH hemolymph titers measured by RIA. (C) jhe transcript levels determined by RT-qPCR using whole body RNA. rp49 was used for normalization. Each bar represents the mean ± SEM of independent samples; sample size is shown above bars. Different letters represent statistical differences assessed by One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test; (p≤0.001 in A and C; p = 0.003 in B).