Genome-Wide Gene Express

Recent projects aimed at identifying functional elements within key animal genomes and to sequence representatives of all avian clades highlight the importance of large-scale, experimental-based annotation of genomes. We have experimentally annotated the chicken genome by measuring mRNA, protein and ncRNA expression from multiple Red Jungle Fowl tissues (male and female). In addition to correcting both NCBI and Ensembl gene models and identifying new miRNAs and lncRNAs, we also quantitatively compare mRNA and proteins expression across multiple tissues and use this information to improve gene product annotation. We also provide fundamental information about gene expression, including tissue-specific expression of both RNA and protein gene products across 15 adult tissues (for both male and female birds), and demonstrate how expression is linked to function. All data generated by this project is submitted to SRA and PRIDE archives and gene expression results are freely and publicly available for viewing or download at the Chickspress (http://geneatlas.arl.arizona.edu/) website.