FIG 1.

Numbers of identified proteins did not differ between preservation methods and time points. Identified proteins were filtered for an FDR of 5% prior to counting. Error bars indicate the SD of the mean. (A) Average numbers of identified proteins from flash-frozen and RNAlater-preserved samples. (B) Average numbers of identified proteins in samples from the four RNAlater storage time points. Samples were frozen immediately after incubation in RNAlater at 4°C overnight for the time zero time point and after 1 extra day, 1 week, and 4 weeks of RNAlater incubation at room temperature. It is noteworthy that the numbers of total identified proteins vary between panels A and B due to small but relevant differences in the protein extraction protocols. These differences led to more efficient extraction of abundant muscle proteins of the host in samples of the RNAlater time series. The large overabundance of peptides from these muscle proteins increased the detection limit for other proteins with, lower abundance.