Total RNA Extraction and RT-qPCR Analysis

The extraction of total RNA was performed using the TRIzol Reagent Kit (Sangon Biotech, Shanghai, China) as previously described (74 (link)). Briefly, the crude RNA extraction was treated with DNase I (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Massachusetts, USA) at 37°C for 40 min to remove residual DNA. The purified RNA was reverse transcribed to cDNA using a RevertAid First Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Massachusetts, USA). RT-qPCR was performed in a total volume of 20 µL with PowerUp SYBR Green Master Mix (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Massachusetts, USA) on an Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 3 System (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Massachusetts, USA). The primers used for RT-qPCR (Table S8) were designed using Primer Premier 6.0 (Premier, Canada) software.