RNA-seq analysis of blood transcriptomes from beluga whales in Bristol Bay, Alaska, USA

Whole blood was collected as part of annual health assessments of beluga whales from the healthy Bristol Bay, Alaska stock during 2012-2014. Gene expression from 24 animals (8 from each year) was analyzed to establish baseline information on the content and variation of the beluga whale blood transcriptome. Illumina based RNA-seq analyses were carried out on RNA from blood using a transcriptome assembled de novo in Trinity. The data set was interrogated for transcripts exhibiting variablity between sexes or years.