Estimation of alternative splicing isoform frequencies from RNA-Seq data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Massively parallel whole transcriptome sequencing, commonly referred as RNA-Seq, is quickly becoming the technology of choice for gene expression profiling. However, due to the short read length delivered by current sequencing technologies, estimation of expression levels for alternative splicing gene isoforms remains challenging.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this paper we present a novel expectation-maximization algorithm for inference of isoform- and gene-specific expression levels from RNA-Seq data. Our algorithm, referred to as IsoEM, is based on disambiguating information provided by the distribution of insert sizes generated during sequencing library preparation, and takes advantage of base quality scores, strand and read pairing information when available. The open source Java implementation of IsoEM is freely available at <url>http://dna.engr.uconn.edu/software/IsoEM/</url>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Empirical experiments on both synthetic and real RNA-Seq datasets show that IsoEM has scalable running time and outperforms existing methods of isoform and gene expression level estimation. Simulation experiments confirm previous findings that, for a fixed sequencing cost, using reads longer than 25-36 bases does not necessarily lead to better accuracy for estimating expression levels of annotated isoforms and genes.</p

The first transcriptome of Italian wall lizard, a new tool to infer about the Island Syndrome

Some insular lizards show a high degree of differentiation from their conspecific mainland populations, like Licosa island lizards, which are described as affected by Reversed Island Syndrome (RIS). In previous works, we demonstrated that some traits of RIS, as melanization, depend on a differential expression of gene encoding melanocortin receptors. To better understand the basis of syndrome, and providing raw data for future investigations, we generate the first de novo transcriptome of the Italian wall lizard. Comparing mainland and island transcriptomes, we link differences in life-traits to differential gene expression. Our results, taking together testis and brain sequences, generated 275,310 and 269,885 transcripts, 18,434 and 21,606 proteins in Gene Ontology annotation, for mainland and island respectively. Variant calling analysis identified about the same number of SNPs in island and mainland population. Instead, through a differential gene expression analysis we found some putative genes involved in syndrome more expressed in insular samples like Major Histocompatibility Complex class I, Immunoglobulins, Melanocortin 4 receptor, Neuropeptide Y and Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen

De Novo Analysis of Transcriptome Dynamics in the Migratory Locust during the Development of Phase Traits

Locusts exhibit remarkable density-dependent phenotype (phase) changes from the solitary to the gregarious, making them one of the most destructive agricultural pests. This phenotype polyphenism arises from a single genome and diverse transcriptomes in different conditions. Here we report a de novo transcriptome for the migratory locust and a comprehensive, representative core gene set. We carried out assembly of 21.5 Gb Illumina reads, generated 72,977 transcripts with N50 2,275 bp and identified 11,490 locust protein-coding genes. Comparative genomics analysis with eight other sequenced insects was carried out to indentify the genomic divergence between hemimetabolous and holometabolous insects for the first time and 18 genes relevant to development was found. We further utilized the quantitative feature of RNA-seq to measure and compare gene expression among libraries. We first discovered how divergence in gene expression between two phases progresses as locusts develop and identified 242 transcripts as candidates for phase marker genes. Together with the detailed analysis of deep sequencing data of the 4th instar, we discovered a phase-dependent divergence of biological investment in the molecular level. Solitary locusts have higher activity in biosynthetic pathways while gregarious locusts show higher activity in environmental interaction, in which genes and pathways associated with regulation of neurotransmitter activities, such as neurotransmitter receptors, synthetase, transporters, and GPCR signaling pathways, are strongly involved. Our study, as the largest de novo transcriptome to date, with optimization of sequencing and assembly strategy, can further facilitate the application of de novo transcriptome. The locust transcriptome enriches genetic resources for hemimetabolous insects and our understanding of the origin of insect metamorphosis. Most importantly, we identified genes and pathways that might be involved in locust development and phase change, and may thus benefit pest management