2.6. RNA Extraction and Quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR)

Total RNA was extracted using Trizol reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The following reverse-transcription PCR and qRT-PCR were performed on a Thermo PIKOREAL 96 Real-Time PCR System (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, UK) with TUA3 (TUBULIN α-3) used as the internal reference, as described previously [43]. The primers used in this study are listed in Table S1.