Cyclorana alboguttata Transcriptome or Gene expression

The green-striped burrowing frog (Cyclorana alboguttata) survives in arid environments by burrowing underground and entering into a deep metabolic depression known as aestivation. Throughout aestivation C. alboguttata is completely immobilised within a cocoon of shed skin, and does not eat, drink or show any signs of activity. Despite this, C. alboguttata is remarkably tolerant of muscle atrophy. Our aim was to develop a genomic resource for C. alboguttata by sequencing and functionally characterising its skeletal muscle transcriptome and conduct global gene expression profiling to identify transcriptional pathways associated with metabolic depression and avoidance of muscle wasting in aestivating C. alboguttata.