Fig. 5

Melanin content is diminished in D. melanica fed on bacteria expressing phenoloxidase dsRNA. a Melanin standard curve using purified melanin (Sigma). Melanin was dissolved in 5 M NaOH before making serial dilutions to establish a standard curve. b Melanin Assay performed using extract from various treated Daphnia. wt D. melanica (melanica): n = 14, EV: n = 15, GFP (GFP/L4440): n = 14, P1 (P1/L4440): n = 11, P2 (P2/L4440): n = 12, P3 (P3/L4440): n = 13, D. pulex RW20 (pulex): n = 20. Data represents 2 replicate experiments. The abbreviations indicated below the bars denote the plasmid vector that was transformed into the bacteria before administering as feed to Daphnia, except for pulex, which indicates non-melanic control without bacterial feed. P- values are as follows: * = 0.001, ** = 0.0002, and *** = 0.0016