Meeting Abstract
S2-2 Friday, Jan. 4 08:00 - 08:30 The Challenges of Transcriptome-wide Comparisons Across Species and Genera FIELD, KA*; LILLEY, TM; OGATA, G; ROGERS, EJ; PROKKOLA, JM; MOORE, MS; REEDER, DM; Bucknell University; Bucknell University; Bucknell University; Bucknell University; Bucknell University; Bucknell University; Bucknell University kfield@bucknell.edu http://fieldresearchlab.blogs.bucknell.edu
Comparing host responses to infection between individuals at the whole-transcriptome level has provided valuable insights into the mechanisms of disease resistance and susceptibility. To determine the ecological-scale responses that control disease ecology, it would be helpful to compare transcriptome-wide gene expression changes between species. However, comparisons across species and genera that are not closely related present challenges that can bias the conclusions generated. We have compared the response to white-nose syndrome (WNS) in two North American species of bat that differ in their susceptibility to the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans. The WNS-susceptible species, Myotis lucifugus, has been shown to respond to infection by activating inflammatory immune responses, among other pathways. To compare responses in a species of bat that is relatively resistant to infection, we measured gene expression using RNA-Seq in Eptesicus fuscus. We compared several pipelines to determine the best approach for comparing gene expression between genera and found that using orthologs defined by BLAST homology was the most conservative. This approach will allow the most direct comparison of functional differences in gene expression patterns. To be effective for comparisons between distantly related species, either large numbers of biological replicates or paired sampling will be needed for differential expression analyses.