Larval aquatic fireflies in fresh water are adversely affected by water pollutants such as benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). However, their response to BaP stress at the microRNA (miRNA)-regulatory level remains unknown. Here, transcriptomes containing 31,872 genes and six miRNA transcriptional profiles were obtained for Aquatica wuhana larvae, and comparative analysis was performed between larvae exposed to BaP (0.01 mg/L) and unexposed controls. Fifteen of 114 miRNAs identified via bioinformatics were detected as differentially expressed (DEMs) upon BaP exposure. Analysis results of predicted target genes of DEM suggests that BaP exposure primarily triggered transcriptional changes of miRNA associated with five major regulatory categories: 1) osmotic balance, 2) energy metabolic efficiency, 3) development, 4) xenobiotic metabolism (oxidative stress), and 5) innate immune response. Based on six innate immune- and xenobiotic metabolism-related pathways enriched by the predicted DEM targets, 11 key BaP-responsive DEMs were further screened to investigate dynamic changes of expression in response to BaP stress at five time points, and also to validate the miRNA sequencing data using quantitative real-time PCR. This study provides valuable information for the protection of firefly resources and supplements the understanding of miRNA regulatory mechanisms in response to water deterioration.

淡水中的幼虫水萤会受到水污染物（例如苯并（a））（BaP））的不利影响。但是，它们对microRNA（miRNA）调节水平对BaP胁迫的反应仍然未知。在这里，获得了包含Aquatica wuhana的31,872个基因和六个miRNA转录谱的转录组幼虫，并在暴露于BaP（0.01 mg / L）的幼虫与未暴露的对照组之间进行了比较分析。通过BaP暴露后，通过生物信息学鉴定的114个miRNA中有15个被检测为差异表达（DEM）。DEM预测目标基因的分析结果表明，BaP暴露主要引发与五个主要调控类别相关的miRNA转录变化：1）渗透平衡，2）能量代谢效率，3）发育，4）异种生物代谢（氧化应激）和5）先天免疫反应。根据预测的DEM靶标丰富的6种与先天性免疫和异种生物代谢相关的途径，进一步筛选了11个关键的BaP反应性DEM，以研究在五个时间点响应BaP胁迫而表达的动态变化，并使用定量实时PCR验证miRNA测序数据。这项研究为保护萤火虫资源提供了有价值的信息，并补充了对miRNA调控机制的认识，以应对水质恶化。