Comparative femoral gland transcriptomics in Aspidoscelis
This project examines the gene regulatory architecture underlying femoral gland function in whiptail lizards (genus Aspidoscelis), a lineage that includes both sexually reproducing and obligately parthenogenetic lineages. Femoral glands are epidermal secretory organs that produce complex chemical signals involved in social communication, mate recognition, and territorial interactions. Although femoral gland morphology and chemistry have been extensively characterized, the gene regulatory networks that support gland development and secretion remain poorly understood, particularly across major evolutionary transitions.To characterize gland-associated transcriptional activity, we generated RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data form femoral gland tissue and matched non-glandular forearm skin controls collected from adult Aspidoscelis individuals in west Texas. The sampling design includes males and females from sexual species as well as females from parthenogenetic lineages, enabling comparisons of tissue-specific gene expression, sex-biased transcription, and potential differences associated with reproductive mode.Total RNA was extracted from each tissue sample and used to construct strand-specific RNA-seq libraries following ribosomal RNA depletion. Libraries were sequenced on an Illumina platform to produce paired-end reads. In addition to short-read RNA-seq data, long-read PacBio Iso-Seq transcriptome sequencing was generated for selected tissues to obtain full-length transcript sequences that facilitate structure validation and annotation.All samples represent adult individuals collected within a restricted temporal window to minimize environmental and seasonal effects of gene expression. The raw sequencing data deposited here support analysis of transcriptome structure, gene expression and gene regulatory network evolution in reptilian chemical signaling systems.