Characterisation of the transcriptome of a wild great tit Parus major population by next generation sequencing

RNA was extracted from eight tissues of wild great tit fledglings, and a normalised cDNA library generated and sequenced. Approximately 4.6 million sequences and 1.4 billion bases of DNA were generated and assembled into 95,979 contigs. Over 90% of contigs aligned with the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) genome, and one third aligned with known Taeniopygia guttata (zebra finch) and Gallus gallus (chicken) transcripts. More than 35,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms and 10,000 microsatellite repeats were identified.