Fig. 5

Serotonin maintains gut microbiome homeostasis by controlling AaDuox expression in A. aegypti. a Midgut AaTPH silencing efficiency at 96 h post injected with 1.2 ug of dsGFP or dsAaTPH. b, c Effect of AaTPH silencing on b midgut total bacterial load and c S. marcescens. d, e AaTPH knockdown decreased the relative abundance of d Serrtia genus and e S. marcescens in the midgut of A. aegypti. f–h Regulation of both f AaDuox expression and g, h ROS activity in the midguts of AaTPH-silencing mosquitoes. The GFP dsRNA-treated mosquitoes served as controls. ROS activity was detected by g DHE and h H₂O₂ assay post dsRNA injection. Scale bars in g represent 400 μm. Data of H₂O₂ level are normalized to dsGFP-treated controls. Two-tailed unpaired t-test was performed for a; one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison test for b, c, d, e, f, and h. Error bars indicate ± s.e.m., ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05, and ns means no significant difference