Nanodrop d2000

Regular genomic DNA extraction was performed as previously described (Wang et al., 2014 (link)). In brief, algal cells in the exponential growth phase were collected by centrifugation at 4,500 × g for 10 min at 4°C. The cell pellets were then suspended in DNA lysis buffer (10 mM Tris pH 8.0, 100 mM EDTA pH 8.0, 0.5 % SDS, 100 μg/ml proteinase K) and incubated at 55°C for 2–3 days. DNA was extracted using cetyl/hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide in 0.7 M NaCl solution method and purified using a DNA clean & concentrator column (Zymo Research, Orange, CA, USA). The final DNA samples were dissolved in 10 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0), measured spectrophotometrically using NanoDrop D2000 (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Wilmington, DE, USA), and stored at 20°C.

The skin tissue of quail embryos was crushed and ground, and the total RNA
was extracted by TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen, Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA)
according to the manufacturer's instructions. The RNA concentration was detected by
a NanoDrop D2000 (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA), and the RNA quality was
detected by 1 % agarose gel electrophoresis. Total RNA was reverse-transcribed into first-strand cDNA using the “PrimeScript™ IV 1st strand cDNA
Synthesis Mix” reverse transcription kit (TaKaRa, Japan) and stored at $-$ 20  ${}^{\circ }$ C.