RNA-seq analysis of Tabanus nipponicus Salivary Glands

Tabanus nipponicus is a hematophagous insect species with high activity in summer, and its salivary gland secretions play a critical role in mediating successful blood-feeding. In this study, pooled salivary gland samples from three T. nipponicus individuals collected during peak summer activity were used for RNA-seq analysis. Total RNA was extracted under sterile and low-temperature conditions prior to sequencing. Paired-end sequencing generated 45,310,280 raw reads, with 88.75% of reads successfully mapped. De novo assembly yielded 35,175 unigenes, which were aligned to the Swiss-Prot database to obtain UniProt IDs. These IDs were mapped to the GO database, and classified into three GO categories; functional annotation revealed enrichment in metabolic, membrane-related biological processes, and binding/catalytic molecular activities, which underpin the synthesis and secretion of anticoagulant saliva components essential for blood-feeding adaptation and microbial stress resistance. Alignment with the KEGG database identified KEGG IDs, with unique KOs following mapping, and subsequent KEGG enrichment analysis was performed. This high-quality transcriptomic dataset represents the first gene expression profile for T. nipponicus, and builds on previous experimental foundations to provide valuable insights into key physiological processes in tabanids, including anticoagulant, blood meal digestion, antioxidant defense, mammalian host immune interaction, and microbial resistance. Overall design: RNA-seq data from three pooled samples of salivary gland tissue from female Tabanus japonica