A-16
RNA was isolated using SPLIT RNA Extraction Kit from saliva swabs preserved in DNA/RNA Shield. RNA samples were characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometry and RNA integrity was assessed on a Fragment Analyzer System using the DNF-472 RNA HS Kit. To remove genomic DNA contaminants, the samples were treated with DNase I. The libraries were constructed using Lexogen Small RNA-Seq Library Prep Kit. Prepared libraries were quality controlled on a Fragment Analyzer System using the DNF-474 HS-DNA kit. cDNA libraries were sequenced with an Illumina NextSeq 2000 platform using 75nt single end read length, with 8 to 10 million reads on average per sample.