Table 1.

Classification of Cloned Small RNAs in An. stephensi.

RNA Species	Number Present	% of Total Clones
miRNAs shown in Table 2 1	148	40.22%
Possible miRNAs listed in Additional file 11	13	3.53%
rRNA	3	0.82%
tRNA	16	4.35%
Unidentified 2	51	13.86%
Low Quality or Short Sequences 3	137	37.23%
TOTAL	368	100%

1. We decided to include only miRNA candidates that match 100% to a locus in the An. gambiae genome as true miRNA candidates shown in Table 2. There are several additional miRNA candidates that have 1 nucleotide mismatch to loci in the An. gambiae genome, which could either result from real differences between An. stephensi and An. gambiae, or errors introduced during cloning or sequencing. These miRNA candidates are not included in Table 2 but are provided in Additional file 1 as we feel further investigation is necessary to ascertain their identities.

2. Sequences do not match any known miRNAs or any other small RNAs or mRNAs.

3. Low quality sequences and sequences less than 17 nucleotides were not analyzed further.