A Descriptive Transcriptomic Resource of Head Tissues from Three Scarab Beetle Species at a Single Time Point Corresponding to Divergent Behavioral States

Two of the scarab beetle species examined here, Holotrichia oblita and Anomala corpulenta, show approximately 24h intervals between locomotoractivity events; whereas, a third species, H. parallela, shows approximately 48h intervals. We collected head tissues from all three species at a single time point, when the two 24h rhythm species were activeand the 48h rhythm species was not, and profiled their transcriptomes. Core clock genes showed comparable transcripts per million (TPM) valuesacross species at this time point. Expression differences were observed in genes involved in phototransduction (Gq alpha subunit isoforms) and mitochondrial energy metabolism (adenine nucleotide translocase isoforms). Additionally, 22 orthologs, including genes related to the ubiquitination cascade and 20S proteasome subunits, showed varying TPM values across species. Protein–protein interaction network analysis showed that many of these genes with varying TPM values cluster into conserved functional modules. This work is therefore presented solely as a descriptive transcriptome resource for these three beetle species at the collection time point.