Falco sparverius Transcriptome or Gene expression

The objective of this study is to identify the molecular pathways and gene expression patterns in livers of young birds that were exposed to methyl mercury in the egg. The main goal is to describe the mechanisms and strategies that underlay the differences in sensitivity to methylmercury observed among three species and to identify potential molecular indicators that can be used to predict avian responses to methylmercury. Eggs from American kestrel (Falco sparverius) were injected with a single dose of methyl mercury (MeHg) as MeHg chloride dissolved in corn oil (final concentration = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, or 0.4 ug/g) to simulate maternal deposition of mercury into the egg. Liver was extracted and transcriptome profiles were examined on an Illumina HiSeq 2000.