Brain transcriptomes of harbor seals demonstrate gene expression patterns of animals undergoing a metabolic disease and a viral infection.

ABSTRACT: Diseases of marine mammals can be difficult to diagnose because of their life history and protected status. Stranded marine mammals have been a particularly useful resource to discover and comprehend the diseases that plague these top predators. Additionally, advancements in high-throughput sequencing (HTS) has contributed to the discovery of novel pathogens in marine mammals. In this study, we use a combination of HTS and stranded harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) to better understand a known and unknown brain disease. To do this, we used transcriptomics to evaluate brain tissues from seven neonatal harbor seals that expired from an unknown cause of death (UCD) and compared them to four neonatal harbor seals that had confirmed phocine herpesvirus (PhV-1) infections in the brain. Compar

SUBMITTER: Rosales SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5182994 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature