Exploratory Research into the RNA Transcripts Present within Beluga Whale Blow Samples

• Main Author: Kaplan, Hannah T
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@URI 2016
• Subjects: Beluga Whale; Cytokine; Gene; Blow Sample; RNA Isolation; Noninvasive; Beluga; Beluga whale; Beluga*
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/srhonorsprog/479; https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/srhonorsprog/article/1482/viewcontent/Exploratory_Research_into_the_RNA_Transcripts_Present_within_Beluga_Whale_Blow_Samples.pdf

Research with beluga whales is important because climate change is affecting their environment, which can impact their health. The usual approach for obtaining working samples is an invasive procedure. However, previous work has successfully developed non-invasive methods using exhales to obtain samples for hormonal and genetic analysis. DNA has been isolated from beluga whale exhales and can provide important information about whale gender and population genetics. The isolation and amplification of RNA in beluga whale exhales has not been reported. Amplification of RNA can lead to insights into gene expression related to animal health, including immune system function. In this project, messenger RNA (mRNA) was isolated using the RNeasy Microkit from beluga whale exhale samples consisting of 1-3 exhales. RNA from 3 exhale samples was isolated in concentrations from 1.95-18.66 ng/μl. The 1 exhale samples result in isolated RNA numbers from 1.889-6.661 ng/μl. Transcripts Rpl8, TNF-α, and IL-12 have been amplified in these isolations by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and visualized by gel electrophoresis. Rpl8 is theoretically present in every cell and is used to determine if the RNA is isolated properly from the exhale samples. TNF-α and IL-12 are cytokine genes that can provide information about immune system health. Sequencing of the amplified products confirmed that the transcripts were amplified. This is the first report of the amplification of transcripts related to immune function from exhale samples, which could provide a non-invasive way of gathering this information. Future research could investigate if changes in expression of these genes can indicate changes in the environment via the change in health of individual beluga whales.