Comparative identification of microRNAs in Apis cerana cerana worker's midgut responding to Nosema ceranae invasion. Apis cerana cerana

According to the standard method previously described by Fries et al (2013), the workers 24 h after eclosion were starved for 2 h and then each was fed with 5 μL of 50% sucrose (w/w in water) solution containing 1×105 Nosema ceranae spores (Forsgren and Fries, 2010). For N. ceranae-treated groups, honeybee workers were held with its mouthparts touching a droplet with the spore solution at the tip of a micropipette until it had consumed the entire droplet; workers that did not consume the entire droplet were discarded. For control groups, each worker in three replicates was fed 5 μL of 50% sucrose solution without N. ceranae spores. AcT1 indicates midgut samples from Apis cerana cerana worker 7d post infection with N. ceranae. AcT2 indicates midgut samples from Apis cerana cerana worker 10d post infection with N. ceranae AcCK1 indicates midgut samples from Apis cerana cerana 7-day-old worker without treanment. AcCK2 indicates midgut samples from Apis cerana cerana 10-day-old worker without treanment. The midguts from N. ceranae-treated groups and un-treated groups were sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq™ 4000 platform using the SE100 sequencing strategy