Fig 3. Mature miRNAs in rbdA and rbdB- strains.

Expression levels of ddi-miR-1176 (A, left) and ddi-miR-1177 (B, left) were determined by Northern Blot analysis in the indicated knockout mutants. 12 μg total RNA were loaded per lane. Mature miRNAs were detected by ³²P labeled oligonucleotides #2601 (α ddi-miR-1176) and #2602 (α ddi-miR-1177). To show equal loading, the membranes were rehybridized with a ³²P labeled probe (#2654) against the snoRNA DdR6. The expression levels of ddi-miR-1176 (A, right) and ddi-miR-1177 (B, right) were quantified based on independent Northern Blots. Quantification of miRNA expression is given relative to DdR6 and was normalized to the AX2 wt (= 1). Error bars: mean with SD, paired t-test: ddi-miR-1176: AX2/rbdB- p < 0,0001 (***), AX2/drnB- p < 0,0001 (***), AX2/agnA- p < 0,0001 (***). Ddi-miR-1177: AX2/rbdB- p < 0,0001 (***), AX2/drnB- p < 0,0001 (***), AX2/agnA- p = 0,0026 (**). Number of n is given in the graph. For each mutant strain, at least two biological replicates were analyzed.