Extended Data Figure 3: Characterization of the female-specific piRNA.
From: A single female-specific piRNA is the primary determiner of sex in the silkworm
a, Detection of contig-derived piRNA and piRNA-1 (control). Northern blot analysis was performed using total RNA prepared from early embryos. The asterisks show the location of each piRNA. b, Normalized reads of the female-specific piRNA in embryonic piRNA libraries of B. mori12 generated at 0, 6, 12, and 24 hpo. Reads of 26–29 nucleotides that showed 2 or fewer mismatches to the corresponding piRNA sequence were scored as a positive match. c, RT–qPCR estimation of the female-specific piRNA levels in early embryos. The piRNA level was normalized to that of let-7. d, Normalized reads of the female-specific piRNA in piRNA libraries6 from ovary and testis of wild-type B. mori or W chromosome mutants. Schematic representation of sex chromosomes of each strain is shown below the panel. The putative sex-determining region is represented by the green box. The orange bar represents the W chromosome derived from B. mandarina. OV, ovary from wild-type; TES, testis from wild-type; MW, ovary from MW strain; LY, ovary from LY strain; WF, testis from WF strain.
