A Comparison of Control Spleen Gene Expression Using Microarray and High Through-Put Sequencing
Date
2010-05
Authors
Mirabito, Anne
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Gene expression is the process of transcribing the DNA that resides on a gene
into mRNA and translating the mRNA into protein. Studying allows researchers to
decipher the functions of genes and their gene products, i.e. proteins. The objective of
this project was to compare two methods of monitoring gene expression, microarray
technology and Illumina sequencing technology, using the same avian spleen sample. A
microarray consists of a glass slide that contains samples of many genes distributed in an
ordered pattern. In this case, a 4,949-element avian innate immunity cDNA microarray
(AIIM) was used. Illumina sequencing technology is based on massively parallel
sequencing of millions of fragments using reversible terminator based sequencing
chemistry in conjunction with the Illumina Genome Analyzer. The results obtained using
these two methods were compared on a global level, in terms of housekeeping genes, and
JAK pathway gene expression. In addition to these comparisons, some practical
considerations about the two processes were made. Many of the most highly expressed
genes in the Illumina data also showed expression levels with the array, through there was
not a clear trend between them. Both of these technologies can be implemented to study
gene expression. Though Illumina technology may be more quantitative and possibly
more sensitive, the data generated from Illumina sequencing does not yet have a standard
quantification method, as does microarray data.