Figure 2

Feeding dsRNAs to larvae induces adult male sterility or low fertility. A, 100 larvae (from 1st to 4th instars) were soaked for 1 h each day for 6 consecutive days in two concentrations of five dsRNAs (left panel) or in mixtures of two dsRNAs (each 0.01 mg/ml, right panel); the percentage of sterile males, relative to untreated controls, are indicated. B, 100 larvae were fed either live or heat-killed bacteria expressing one dsRNA (left panel) or mixtures of live E. coli expressing two dsRNAs (right panel), and the percent of sterile males, relative to untreated males, was assessed. Error bars indicate the s.e.m. of five independent trials. All dsRNA treatments induced significant reductions in fertility (ANOVA, P < 0.01).