Transcriptomic analysis of transgenic Anopheles gambiae female pupae with a stable knockdown of the femaleless gene

The study aims at understanding the molecular background of exclusive female lethality upon knockdown of the femaleless (AGAP013051) gene, a component of the sex determination pathway, in the African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae. A transgenic line (called 4M4B) with a stable micro-RNA-mediated femaleless knockdown, phenotypically manifested by an extensive female masculinization and death during late development, but with no negative effects on males, were used in the study. Transcriptomes of individual, approximately 24 hour-old female pupae from line 4M4B and the same age individual pupae from the wild-type G3 strain were sequenced on Illumina NovaSeq6000 platform for subsequent comparisons.