A cDNA microarray for Crassostrea virginica and C. gigas.

The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, and the Pacific oyster, C. gigas, are species of global economic significance as well as important components of estuarine ecosystems and models for genetic and environmental studies. To enhance the molecular tools available for oyster research, an international group of collaborators has constructed a 27,496-feature cDNA microarray containing 4460 sequences derived from C.

Insights into the immune transcriptome of the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei: tissue-specific expression profiles and transcriptomic responses to immune challenge.

Infectious disease constitutes a major obstacle to the sustainability of shrimp aquaculture worldwide and a significant threat to natural populations of shrimp and other crustacea. The study of the shrimp immune system, including the response to viral infection, has been hampered by a relative lack of molecular genetic information and of tools suitable for high-throughput assessment of gene expression. In this report, the generation of a cDNA microarray encompassing 2,469 putative unigenes expressed in gills, circulating hemocytes, and hepatopancreas of Litopenaeus vannamei is described.

Analysis of multiple tissue-specific cDNA libraries from the Pacific whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei.

Multiple small-scale transcriptome studies have been undertaken for various members of the Penaeidae. Penaeid shrimp are important both as members of diverse ecosystems around the world and for their importance as commercial commodities. Of the many shrimps, the most important from this family is the Pacific whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, as it is the primary shrimp used in worldwide aquaculture.

A dolphin peripheral blood leukocyte cDNA microarray for studies of immune function and stress reactions.

A microarray focused on stress response and immune function genes of the bottlenosed dolphin has been developed. Random expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were isolated and sequenced from two dolphin peripheral blood leukocyte (PBL) cDNA libraries biased towards T- and B-cell gene expression by stimulation with IL-2 and LPS, respectively. A total of 2784 clones were sequenced and contig analysis yielded 1343 unigenes (archived and annotated at ).

Marine genomics: a clearing-house for genomic and transcriptomic data of marine organisms.

Background: The Marine Genomics project is a functional genomics initiative developed to provide a pipeline for the curation of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) and gene expression microarray data for marine organisms. It provides a unique clearing-house for marine specific EST and microarray data and is currently available at http://www.marinegenomics.

Optimal cDNA microarray design using expressed sequence tags for organisms with limited genomic information.

Background: Expression microarrays are increasingly used to characterize environmental responses and host-parasite interactions for many different organisms. Probe selection for cDNA microarrays using expressed sequence tags (ESTs) is challenging due to high sequence redundancy and potential cross-hybridization between paralogous genes. In organisms with limited genomic information, like marine organisms, this challenge is even greater due to annotation uncertainty.