Figure 6

Expression of miR-x2 in An. stephensi and Ae. aegypti : sex-specificity, tissue distribution and the impact of blood feeding. Shown here are northern blots performed using Dig-labeled miRCURY LNA probes designed for hybridization to miR-x2. The top panels are northern results and the bottom panels are RNA gels for verification of small ribosomal and tRNA integrity and equal loading of total RNA. ssDNA size markers (19 and 23 nts, not shown) were also visualized on the RNA gel for size estimation. On the left panel for each species, a comparison between 5-day old adult male and 5-day old non-bloodfed female is shown. Ten micrograms of total RNA isolated from the whole mosquitoes were used. The middle and right panels are comparisons between adult female tissues or body parts in each species. Tissues used were Heads, Ovaries, Midguts, and Remainders. There were four samples for each tissue: BF, tissue sample from bloodfed females at 24 and 72 hrs post-bloodfeeding; NBF, tissue sample from non-bloodfed (sugar-fed) females at equivalent time points compared to the blood-fed samples. Five micrograms of total RNA for each sample were used. The markers lane is designated with an 'M' although the markers are not within the gel image panel because they are below the size of the ribosomal and tRNA.