Figure 3. Rate of transcript level variation is maximal at gastrula stage.

(A) Data from [23] were used to quantify transcription variations during normal development. The number of genes showing an RNA level increase or decrease by 2×, 4×, or 8× between two consecutive stages was plotted. Data were normalized by the duration, in hours, of each developmental period analysed. (B) The group of genes with RNA levels that increased 4× or more between stage 11 and stage 13 was considered, and the RNA levels of these genes were plotted at different developmental stages. The rectangles delineate the 25^th and 75^th percentiles, the horizontal bar is the median, and the whiskers indicate the 10^th and 90^th percentiles.