Comparative sequence analyses of genome and transcriptome reveal novel transcripts and variants in the Asian elephant Elephas maximus

The study aim is to generate high qulity resource of genomic and transcriptome data for E. maximus. Here, we have carried out genomic and RNA sequencing from total lymphocytes of the captive Asian elephant Jayaprakash from Karnataka. Genome sequences were used to calculate single nucleotide varations (SNVs) in protein coding regions and found a significant enrichment of SNVs in coding regions of genes involved in olfaction function. Poly-A enriched RNA sequences were used to identify novel transcripts and for comparative transcriptome analysis to identify tissue specific genes of total lymphocytes.