show Abstracthide AbstractAn expressed sequence tag (EST) library derived from mRNA and snRNA isolated from the brains, lungs, spleens, kidneys, livers, and hearts of adult female Syrian hamsters was sequenced. The assembled library represents a total of 60,117,204 nucleotides, which is expected to be approximately a third of the Syrian hamster transcriptome. Our Mesocricetus auratus library mapped to 11,648 mouse transcripts representing 9,562 distinct genes, and mapped to a similar number of transcripts and genes in the rat. Canonical pathways involved in a broad spectrum of fundamental biological processes were significantly represented in the library. Finally, ESTs of the library have been aligned over a compendium of 17 rodents, primate and laurasiatheria species to gain insights about the genomic evolution of this species.