A description of the origins, design and performance of the TRAITS-SGP Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. cDNA microarray.
The origins, design, fabrication and performance of an Atlantic salmon microarray are described. The microarray comprises 16 950 Atlantic salmon-derived cDNA features, printed in duplicate and mostly sourced from pre-existing expressed sequence tag (EST) collections [SALGENE and salmon genome project (SGP)] but also supplemented with cDNAs from suppression subtractive hybridization libraries and candidate genes involved in immune response, protein catabolism, lipid metabolism and the parr-smolt transformation. A preliminary analysis of a dietary lipid experiment identified a number of genes known to be involved in lipid metabolism. Significant fold change differences (as low as 1.2x) were apparent from the microarray analysis and were confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. The study also highlighted the potential for obtaining artefactual expression patterns as a result of cross-hybridization of similar transcripts. Examination of the robustness and sensitivity of the experimental design employed demonstrated the greater importance of biological replication over technical (dye flip) replication for identification of a limited number of key genes in the studied system. The TRAITS (TRanscriptome Analysis of Important Traits of Salmon)-salmon genome project microarray has been proven, in a number of studies, to be a powerful tool for the study of key traits of Atlantic salmon biology. It is now available for use by researchers in the wider scientific community.
Taggart
J B
JB
Bron
J E
JE
Martin
S A M
SA
Seear
P J
PJ
Høyheim
B
B
Talbot
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R
Carmichael
S N
SN
Villeneuve
L A N
LA
Sweeney
G E
GE
Houlihan
D F
DF
Secombes
C J
CJ
Tocher
D R
DR
Teale
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AJ