RNA-seq analysis of seasonal and individual variation in blood transcriptomes of healthy captive bottlenose dolphins. Tursiops truncatus

Four captive bottlenose dolpins housed in Kona, Hawaii, were serially sampled at approximately monthly intervals over the course of one year, in order to establish baseline information on the content and variation of the dolphin blood transcriptome. Overall design: Illumina based RNA-seq analyses were carried out on globin-depleted RNA from blood using the Ensembl dolphin genome as a guide. The data set was interrogated for transcripts exhibiting circa-annual rhymthicity, differential expression by season or sex, or correlation to hematological parameters