RNA sequencing of embryonic cornea and lens of Indian Mugger

The study was undertaken to understand the gene expression during the embryonic development of cornea and lens of Crocodylus palustris (Indian Mugger), a species representing an ancient reptilian lineage, which is lacking till date. For the purpose, the RNA sequencing data was generated using NGS platform and was used to develop the de novo transcriptome. To get a comprehensive de novo transcriptome, for a species like Indian mugger for which genomic information is yet not available, we applied and optimized a bioinformatic pipeline by judiciously collating multiple previously described assembly tools and strategies. The pipeline so developed, helped us in obtaining a high quality, near complete transcriptome that will add to the limited available resource for reptiles, and also will facilitate similar transcriptomic studies on other species with no reference genome.