PUBLICATION

Meta-Transcriptomic Analysis of RNAseq Data Reveals Pacu and Loach Fish with Unusually High Levels of Myoglobin Expression in Skeletal Muscles

Authors
Chen, R.Y., Hieu, B.T.N., Audira, G., Lou, B., Lin, M.D., Hsiao, C.D.
ID
ZDB-PUB-200825-19
Date
2020
Source
Animals : an open access journal from MDPI   10(7): (Journal)
Registered Authors
Hsiao, Chung-Der
Keywords
myoglobin; hemoglobin; fish; meta-transcriptomic
MeSH Terms
none
PubMed
32635168 Full text @ Animals (Basel)
Abstract
Oxygen-binding proteins, such as myoglobin, hemoglobin, neuroglobin, and cytoglobin, play a role in oxygen binding and delivery to tissues. In icefish, the loss of myoglobin and hemoglobin genes has been reported to be an adaptive evolution event. This interesting finding prompted us to exam oxygen-binding protein expression in diverse fish species. Taking advantage of substantial RNAseq data deposited in the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) database, we adopted a meta-transcriptomic approach to explore and compare four oxygen-binding protein gene expression levels in the skeletal muscle of 25 diverse fish species for the first time. RNAseq data were downloaded from the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database, and de novo assembly was performed to generate transcript contigs. The genes encoding oxygen-binding proteins were then identified by the BLAST search, and the relative expression level of oxygen-binding protein genes was normalized by the RPKM (Reads per Kilobase Million) method. By performing expression profiling, hierarchy clustering, and principal component analysis, pacu and loach fish were noticed by their high myoglobin expression levels in skeletal muscle tissues among 25 diverse fish species. In conclusion, we demonstrated that meta-transcriptomic analysis of RNAseq data is an informative approach to compare the oxygen-binding protein expression and putative gene expansion event in fish.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping