Fig. 6

Expression of genes involved in the Non-Homologous End-Joining (NHEJ) and Homologous Recombination (HR) pathways. The figure represents the different proteins, being represented by different symbols, acting in the two DNA repair pathways which repair double-strand breaks (DSBs). The heatmap of the log₂foldchange shows the change level of expression of genes coding for these proteins in the different conditions in A. vaga individuals compared to the gene expression level in the controls. The color is not white when the gene is significantly (FDR < 0.01 with both DESeq2 and EdgeR) over- (log₂foldchange > 0.5 in green) or under-expressed (log₂foldchange <  − 0.5 in orange or red). In this figure are represented only the following conditions: individuals entering desiccation (gray), after 14 days desiccation and 1.5 h rehydration (yellow), after 2.5-, 8- and 24-h post desiccation and X-ray radiation (orange), since the response was similar after desiccation and Fe radiation and after X-ray radiation without desiccation (all conditions represented in Supplementary Figures S4 and S5). Heatmap of transcripts per millions (TPMs) for each gene is represented on the right side and with a different color code representing the level of expression. The gene IDs coding for the different DNA repair genes are written next to the TPMs. This figure illustrates that DSB are likely repaired in A. vaga individuals by NHEJ rather than by HR