Figure 1.

(a) Animal rearing and sample preparation. Tineola bisselliella larvae were grown on a keratin-rich diet based on goose feathers or a keratin-free diet composed of insect carcasses. Four different sample types were generated: (1) larvae grown exclusively on the keratin-rich diet for 6 weeks; (2) larvae grown exclusively on the keratin-free diet for 11 weeks; (3) larvae grown on the keratin-rich diet for 2 weeks and transferred to the keratin-free diet for another 4 weeks; and (4) larvae grown on the keratin-free diet for 2 weeks and transferred to the keratin-rich diet for another 4 weeks. (b) RNA isolation and fractionation. Guts were dissected from five larvae for each replicate. Total RNA was processed by poly(A) fishing to produce poly(A)-enriched and poly(A)-depleted fractions.