Oligoryzomys longicaudatus Spleen Transcriptome. Oligoryzomys longicaudatus strain:hantavirus

The long-tailed pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus) is the reservoir host of Andes and Oran hantaviruses. It is found throughout most of southern South America and is commonly associated with peridomestic structures. Andes and Oran viruses (family Bunyaviridae) have caused thousands of deaths in South America. It is thought that once infected, the rice rats remain infected for life despite the production of neutralizing antibodies. The generation of transcriptome data for this species will facilitate characterization of the immune response of naturally-infected rice rats, permit a direct comparison to other rodent species that harbor hantaviruses, as well as permit development of expression assays.