Data from: Gene transcription in sea otters (Enhydra lutris): development of a diagnostic tool for sea otter and ecosystem health

Gene transcription analysis for diagnosing or monitoring wildlife health
requires the ability to distinguish pathophysiological change from natural
variation. Herein we describe methodology for the development of
quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays to measure
differential transcript levels of multiple immune-function genes in the
sea otter (Enhydra lutris); sea otter specific, qPCR primer sequences for
the genes of interest are defined. We establish a “reference” range of
transcripts for each gene in a group of clinically healthy captive and
free-ranging sea otters. The 10 genes of interest represent multiple
physiological systems that play a role in immuno-modulation, inflammation,
cell protection, tumor suppression, cellular stress-response, xenobiotic
metabolizing enzymes, antioxidant enzymes, and cell-cell adhesion. The
cycle threshold (CT) measures for most genes were normally distributed;
the complement cytolysis inhibitor was the exception. The relative
enumeration of multiple gene transcripts in simple peripheral blood
samples expands the diagnostic capability currently available to assess
the health of sea otters in situ and provides a better understanding of
the state of their environment.