Rescue effect of arachidonic acid (AA, a PLA₂ catalytic product) on suppressing AMP expression of <i>S</i>. <i>exigua</i> fifth instar larvae under blocking NO biosynthesis.

<p>RNA interference (RNAi) applied to SeNOS using its specific dsRNA at a dose of 800 ng per larva. (A) RNAi effect on <i>SeNOS</i> expression. After 24, 48, and 72 h of dsNOS injection, whole bodies were collected to extract RNA and used for cDNA preparation. For RNAi control (dsCON), larvae were injected with dsRNA that were specific to a viral gene, <i>CpBV-ORF302</i>, in same doses. (B) Effects of SeNOS RNAi on <i>defensin</i> (<i>Def</i>) expression. For bacterial challenge (BAC), <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i> was injected at a dose of 1 × 10⁵ cells per larva after 48 h of dsNOS injection. AA injection used 10 μg per larva. After 8 h of injection, each whole body per replication was used for total RNA extraction to prepare cDNA. Each treatment was conducted three times. <i>Def</i> expression was quantified by RT-qPCR. RL32, a ribosomal protein, was used as a reference gene for qPCR. Different letters above standard deviation bars indicate significant differences among means at Type I error = 0.05 (LSD test).