Spodoptera exigua strain:ALM, FRA, Xen-R Transcriptome or Gene expression

We have obtained and characterized the transcriptome of S. exigua larvae with special emphasis on pathogen-induced genes. Enrichment of RNA from pathogen-related genes was accomplished by exposing larvae to different pathogenic and non-pathogenic microbial agents. In addition, to avoid the loss of genes from tissues that are under-represented in the larvae, we included cDNA independently isolated from the midgut, fat body, hemocytes and integument from pathogen exposed insects. Analysis of the sequences obtained using the Roche 454 FLX and Sanger (directional long reads) methods has allowed the generation of the largest public set of ESTs from S. exigua, including a large group of immune genes.