Fig. 3: Knockdown of PEBP4 attenuated TYLCV-induced apoptosis but enhanced autophagy.

a BtPEBP4 RNAi knockdown in whitefly reduced the expression of BtPEBP4 at mRNA level, and dsGFP served as control. b The relative expression of apoptotic related genes (Iap, Bcl2, Caspase1, Caspase3), and c autophagy related genes (ATG3, ATG8, ATG9, ATG12) were determined using qPCR. Three independent samples were used for each treatment. 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. d Apoptosis in midgut and salivary gland was determined by TUNEL labeling (green). e Autophagy was noted by ATG8-PE (red), and nuclei were stained by DAPI (white). Sample sizes (n) for statistical tests indicated in the panels refer to biologically independent whitefly. Relative intensity was quantified by ImageJ. Values in bar plots represent mean ± SEM. f Immunoblotting using whole body. GAPDH served as the loading control, and three independent biological replicates were conducted.