The salamander has the remarkable ability to regenerate its limb after amputation. Cells at the site of amputation form a blastema and then proliferate and differentiate to regrow the limb. To better understand this process, we performed deep RNA sequencing of the blastema over a time course in the axolotl, a species whose genome has not been sequenced. Using a novel comparative approach to analyzing RNA-seq data, we characterized the transcriptional dynamics of the regenerating axolotl limb with respect to the human gene set. This approach involved de novo assembly of axolotl transcripts, RNA-seq transcript quantification without a reference genome, and transformation of abundances from axolotl contigs to human genes. We found a prominent burst in oncogene expression during the first day and blastemal/limb bud genes peaking at 7 to 14 days.
Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/feature-article/comparative-rna-seq-analysis-unsequenced-axolotl-oncogene-burst-highlights-early
[2] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/ron-stewart
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/cynthia-alexander-rasc%C3%B3n
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/shulan-tian-et-al
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/journal/plos-computational-biology
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/amphibians
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/research