Fig. 3

miRNA expression profiles before and after C. savignyi larval metamorphosis. a Heat map of relative expression levels of miRNA of C. savignyi larvae at 18, 21, and 42 hpf stages detected by qPCR. Each row represents an miRNA, and each column represents a specific stage indicated at the bottom. The expression of miRNA was hierarchically clustered on the left, and the sample clustering was presented at the top. The values shown are averages of independent experiments performed in triplicate. The color bar depicts the color contrast level of the heat map. Green or red on the heat map indicates a decrease or increase in miRNA levels, respectively. b-c The expression levels of upregulated miRNAs (b) and downregulated miRNAs (c) at 42 hpf were identified by qPCR. The relative expression of each miRNA was calculated using the delta-delta Ct method (2^−ΔΔCt) and normalized to U6 snRNA. Results represented the mean of triplicate assays with standard error (mean ± SD). Significance of relative expression at different stages was determined using Student’s t-test. Asterisks (**) represented statistical significance at P < 0.01. Blue, orange and gray bars represent expression levels at 18, 21, and 42 hpf of each miRNA, respectively