Fig. 2.
Comparison of the performance of τS and π to dissect complex gene expression patterns over multiple contrasts. Gene expression (in log2 normalized read counts) in each morph and corresponding specificity index τS and plasticity index π values for four genes expressed in C. obscurior. Genes were selected based on their strong deviation from the mean ratio of τS and π to assess performance differences of the two measures (independent of their average expression level). Three of the selected genes show morph-specific downregulation (Cobs_02055, Cobs_12086, Cobs_12224) and Cobs_17732 shows female-biased overexpression. Boxplots show the median, inter-quartile ranges (IQR) and 1.5 × IQR and red dots show mean expression across seven replicates. QU = queens, WO = workers, EM = ergatoid males, WM = winged males.