Fig. 5

Structural divergence between the three - Triatoma 1:1 orthologs (BLAST best reciprocal hit to R. prolixus). a Distribution of GO (biological process) term frequency (y axis) according to Z value (the number of standard deviations from the median mean), as a measure of protein divergence (x axis). Negative Z values indicate higher conservation, whereas positive Z values indicate higher divergence. For instance, GO:0044710 (“single organism metabolic process”) has the same Z value in the three species, but is less divergent than GO:0044419 (“interspecies interaction between organisms”), with different although high Z values in the three species. b Biological process Z values for level 3 Gene ontology terms GO’s (rows). The Z value was numerically ordered according to T. pallidipennis and hierarchically clustered (Pearson’s correlation) according to species (columns). Blue tones reflect higher protein sequence % identity (i.e. more conserved), whereas yellow tones reflect lower % identity (more diverged). Significant higher protein sequence divergence were found in “single organism metabolic processes”, “interspecies interaction between organisms”, and oxidoreductase activity. c Molecular function Z values. Gene ontology terms level 3 GO’s. Kruskal-Wallis one Way ANOVA. Dunn’s correction for multiple testing. *** p < 0.001; ** p < 0.01. Non statistical significance in some conserved and divergent GO classes was probably because the lack of power due to low numbers of genes in those classes. Data corresponding to this figure, including % identity mean for each GO term and cellular compartment terms is in Additional file 5