Fig. 4

Anopheles stephensi APL1 protection from Plasmodium yoelii infection is secondary to its antibacterial function. a P. yoelii oocyst infection intensity in An. stephensi mosquitoes treated with dsAPL1 or control dsGFP, both without antibiotic treatment. Oocyst intensity is the oocyst count in mosquitoes with ≥ 1 oocyst, to avoid confounding with infection prevalence. Oocyst infection prevalence, the proportion of mosquitoes carrying ≥ 1 oocyst, is indicated as a percentage below sample sizes. Number of biological replicates is indicated below plots. Combined P-value: χ² = 22.3529, df = 4, P = -0.0002 (Replicate 1, W = 30.5, P = 0.0075; Replicate 2, W = 226.5, P = 0.002). b As in a, but mosquitoes were subject to antibiotic treatment before Plasmodium exposure. Combined P-value, χ² = 21.85, df = 6, P = 0.001 (Replicate 1, W = 1144.5, P = 0.009; Replicate 2, W = 463.5, P = 0.043; Replicate 3, W = 40, P = 0.05549)