Fig. 1: Bantam and miR-1989 evolution and their inhibition resulted in significant morphological defects of S. japonicum ovary and decreased oviposition.

a Bantam miRNA alignment showed conserved sequences across different species. b miR-1989 alignment showed conserved sequences among different species. c RT-qPCR analyses of the expression of Bantam and miR-1989 treated with miRNA inhibitors. At 4 days of post-electroporation, parasites were collected and total RNAs were isolated for RT-qPCR analysis. Data illustrate representative results showing the mean and standard error from triplicate experiments, n = 3 independent experiments. d Effect of Bantam and miR-1989 suppression on female ovary morphology. S. japonicum worms were stained with carmine red and whole-mount preparations were imaged by confocal microscopy. Io immature oocyte, mo mature oocyte, v vacuole. The number of parasites similar to representative images is indicated in the lower right of each panel. n = 20 parasites, two biological replicates. Scale bar = 20 µm. e Effect of Bantam/miR-1989 suppression on egg production in female schistosomes. Ten females were electroporated as one shot and then cultured in one well of 12 well cell plate. Data illustrate representative results of the experiment contain 30 worms from three replicate shots and then cultured in 3 wells, three biological replicates. The results showing the mean and standard error, n = 3 independent experiments. ** P ≤ 0.01.