LivestockExp Database Tracks Gene Expression, Splicing Across Several Animal Species

In BMC Genomics, investigators at Michigan State University, Nanjing Agricultural University, and elsewhere characterize gene expression and alternative transcript splicing in livestock and other animal species ranging from cattle, sheep, or goats to dogs, donkeys, cats, chickens or geese. The team assembled RNA sequence data for some 43,710 animals representing half a dozen animal orders, putting together a LivestockExp database for searching, analyzing, and visualizing gene expression, differential expression, expression network, alternative splicing, and other transcript patterns for the species considered. "In addition to common search functions, [LivestockExp] allows users to perform multiple online analysis functions to explore complex datasets by customizing sample groups," the authors conclude, calling the database "a valuable data resource and analysis platform for the livestock research community to conveniently utilize public RNA-seq datasets."