Fig. 1

Expression of silk gland-specific miR-274 couldn’t be changed by functional reagents but was down-regulated by miRNA sponge. a Spatial expression of miR-274 at D3 IL5. b Expression in the three divisions of silk gland. c Expression post injection of miR-274 mimics. d Expression post injection of miR-274 antagomir. e-g Expression of miR-274 in different divisions of the silk gland post injection of miR-274 mimic and miR-1175 mimic. h-j Expression of miR-274 in different divisions of the silk gland post injection of miR-274 antagomir and miR-1175 antagomir. k Schematic diagram of transgenic miR-274 sponge vector. l Verification of pSL1180[Hr3/A4-miR-274 sponge] by Asc I. 1: Marker; 2: Recovered vector backbone of pSL1180[Hr3/A4]; 3: Digestion product of pSL1180[Hr3/A4-miR-274-sponge]. (m) Verification of piggyBac[3 × P3-EGFP, Hr3/A4–274-sponge] by Asc I. n Screening of positive transgenic miR-274 sponge at embyo stage. (a) Observed under blue light; (b) Observed under white light. o Screening of positive transgenic miR-274 sponge at adult stage. (a) Observed under blue light; (b) Observed under white light. p Expression of miR-274 in the transgenic miR-274 sponge. q Expression of miR-274-3p in the transgenic miR-274 sponge. Data represent three biological replicates with three technical replicates and are shown as mean ± SEM. ns, not significant, *P < 0.05