Fig. 1: Apoptosis and autophagy were simultaneously induced in whitefly when acquiring TYLCV.

Midguts and salivary glands were dissected from nonviruliferous and viruliferous whitefly, respectively. a Apoptosis was determined by TUNEL assays (green), and b autophagy was indicated by the hallmark ATG8-PE (red). The nuclei (white) were stained by DAPI. Sample sizes (n) for statistical tests indicated in the panels refer to biologically independent whitefly. Relative intensity was quantified by ImageJ. Whiteflies feeding on TYLCV-infected plant for 24 hours were sampled. The relative expressions of c anti-apoptotic genes (Iap, Bcl2), pro-apoptotic genes (Casp1, Casp3), and d autophagy-related genes (ATG3, ATG8, ATG9, ATG12) were determined by qPCR. Five independent samples were used for each treatment. Values in bar plots represent mean ± SEM. All data were checked for normality by the Wilk-Shapiro test. Two-sided paired t-test was used to separate the means of normally distributed data, while Mann-Whitney test was used to analyze nonparametric distributed data, no multiple comparisons were performed in each test. e Time-course immunoblot monitored the dynamics of apoptosis and autophagy activation in whole body of whitefly, and GAPDH served as the loading control. The consumption of SQSTM1, a crucial autophagy substrate, represented autophagy activation. ATG8-PE represented lipidated ATG8, the hallmark of autophagy. PE phosphatidylethanolamine.