Identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) is of high priority when elucidating how pathogens infect and cause disease in a host. Differential gene expression (DGE) in prokaryotes has received limited attention in research, and the objective of this project is to analyze and characterize DEGs involved in particular pathways, previously associated with bacterial virulence.
The genome of a pathogenic Shewanella algae isolate, recovered from the brain of a deceased Northern Bottlenose Whale, was assembled and annotated using long-read sequencing from Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT). DGE-analysis was conducted on the pathogenic Shewanella algae isolate by culturing it in tryptic soy broth (TSB) and TSB enriched with brain homogenate from the deceased whale. The transcriptome was isolated and sequenced using a direct cDNA sequencing kit from ONT. It resulted in the identification of 40 DEGs and four differentially expressed pathways regarding cell motility, iron acquisition and protein translocation, potentially involved in virulence.