Fig. 3.

Functional characteristics and gene expression patterns in the reproductive tissues of C. molossus. Secretory and non-secretory gene composition (a) and gene expression (b) in the accessory glands and testes of C. molossus. The accessory gland is specialized for secretory function, with 73% (33) of genes being secretory in nature. Secretory genes also account for a majority of gene expression in the accessory glands. In contrast, the testes gene set is composed of mainly non-secretory genes 96% (43) which also dominate expression in the testes at 97%. (c) Proportion of genes in each functional category. Both accessory glands and testes are dominated by several genes of unknown function. Stress response and immunity and protein biosynthesis genes are shared across both tissues. The testes contain a set of 10 genes involved in spermatogenesis and sperm function, whereas the accessory glands contain serine protease inhibitors and genes involved in female, egg, or embryogenesis interactions. (d) Proportion of gene expression in each functional category. In both tissues, a majority of expression is by genes of unknown function. In the testes, spermatogenesis and sperm function is the second highest expressed category, followed by stress response and immunity and protein biosynthesis genes.