Reusing microarrays within closely related species: experimental validation through phylogenetic inference.

Abstract

Microarrays are generally designed for a specific set of organisms, and this poses a limitation for researchers wanting to conduct investigations on gene expression in organisms that are, in some sense, not "popular" enough. In this article, we demonstrate that microarrays may in fact be reusable for aggregate expression analysis for species that are evolutionarily related. Our validation approach is based on this assumption and draws a phylogenetic conclusion that is deemed to be true only if the assumption of reusability is valid. This article demonstrates that microarrays developed using the human transcriptome are reusable for aggregate expression analysis of primates in general.