Dynamic expression profiles of lncRNAs during schistosome reproductive development.

(A-B) Principal component analysis (PCA) of 21 distinct samples across four-time points based on normalized lncRNAs (A) and mRNAs (B) expression levels. Male and female samples were mainly located in regions indicated by blue and red shading. (C) Clustering of major expression patterns of dynamic lncRNAs during reproductive development in females (up) and males (down). Lines estimated through LOESS regression; 95% confidence interval shown in grey. (D) The proportion of lncRNAs in each cluster to the total dynamic lncRNAs in male and female worms. (E) The bar plot represents the count of sex-biased lncRNAs and mRNAs at 18, 22, and 26 dpi. The categories were divided into female-biased (Log2FC ≥ 1, adjusted P-value 2FC ≤ -1, adjusted P-value P-value < 0.001, Fisher’s exact test). (F) Sankey diagram showing the transition of female-biased lncRNAs (red), male-biased lncRNAs (blue), and non-biased lncRNAs (green) between 18, 22, and 26 dpi. The proportion of each class is represented by the size of the rectangle.