Abstract
Echolocating bats are fascinating for their ability to ‘see’ the world in the darkness. Ultrahigh frequency hearing is essential for echolocation. In this study we collected cochlear tissues from constant-frequency (CF) bats (two subspecies of Rhinolophus affinis, Rhinolophidae) and frequency-modulated (FM) bats (Myotis ricketti, Vespertilionidae) and applied PacBio single-molecule real-time isoform sequencing (Iso-seq) technology to generate the full-length (FL) transcriptomes for the three taxa. In total of 10103, 9676 and 10504 non-redundant FL transcripts for R. a. hainanus, R. a. himalayanus and Myotis ricketti were obtained respectively. These data present a comprehensive list of transcripts involved in ultrahigh frequency hearing of echolocating bats including 26342 FL transcripts, 24833 of which are annotated by public databases. No further comparative analyses were performed on the current data in this study. This data can be reused to quantify gene or transcript expression, assess the level of alternative splicing, identify novel transcripts and improve genome annotation of bat species.
Highlights
Background & SummaryMost bats have evolved echolocation to navigate, explore environment and hunt prey in the darkness[1]
High-throughput transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) of cochlear tissue has been used to uncover differentially expressed genes possibly associated with the origin of ultrahigh frequency hearing[8], the divergence of different echolocating types[9] and echolocation call frequency variation[10]
By comparing with transcripts expressed in non-echolocating mammals, the current FL transcriptomes from echolocating bats will help to test whether alternative splicing plays an important role in the origin of novel phenotype
Summary
Most bats have evolved echolocation to navigate, explore environment and hunt prey in the darkness[1]. High-throughput transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) of cochlear tissue has been used to uncover differentially expressed genes possibly associated with the origin of ultrahigh frequency hearing[8], the divergence of different echolocating types[9] and echolocation call frequency variation[10]. By comparing with transcripts expressed in non-echolocating mammals, the current FL transcriptomes from echolocating bats will help to test whether alternative splicing plays an important role in the origin of novel phenotype (ultrahigh frequency hearing). FL transcriptomes from FM bats and two CF subspecies could be used to test the roles of alternative splicing in the divergence of different echolocating types (CF and FM) and in intraspecific echolocation call frequency variation These FL transcriptome datasets will be useful for identification of novel transcripts and for improvement of genome annotation of Rhinolophus affinis,Myotis ricketti, and other bat species[19,20]
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