Eye, pineal gland and mixed tissue; day and night (Zebrafish)
Specimens
Experimental design: An NGS study on the daily changes in zebrafish eye, pineal gland and mixed tissue transcriptomes was performed to identify genes that are expressed selectively in the eye and pineal gland. Adult (0.5-1.5 years old) transgenic zebrafish, Tg(aanat2:EGFP), were used; these animals express enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in the pineal gland under the control of the aanat2 regulatory regions. Fish were raised under 12-hr light:12-hr dark (LD) cycles in a temperature-controlled room. For tissue collection fish were anesthetized in 1.5 mM Tricaine (Sigma) and sacrificed by decapitation. Dissections were conducted at mid-day (ZT6) and mid-night (ZT18). Fluorescent pineal glands, whole eyes and other tissues were removed under a dissecting microscope. A single pool of 18 pineal glands, 6 eyes and 4 to 8 of each peripheral tissue was collected at each time point. The mixed tissue samples consisted of equal amounts of total RNA (1 microgram) from muscle, ovary, kidney, gill, liver, intestines, heart and brain. Total RNA for mRNA analysis was isolated using RNeasy Lipid Tissue Mini Kit (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Sequencing
Poly-A RNA libraries were prepared for sequencing using standard Illumina protocols. The 6 libraries were pooled and sequenced on two lanes of an Illumina HiSeq2000. This generated an average of 25.4 million reads per sample (paired-end, 100-bp). The data are referenced in GSE99285.