For the past couple of weeks in the McFadden lab, I have been working on DNA extractions and gene amplifications for 89 samples of Xeniidae sent to us from the Queensland Museum in Australia. The samples were collected at three sites on the Great Barrier Reef, as well as from Western Australia. Xeniidae corals are a family of soft corals that reproduce at an extremely high rate, and are known to overpopulate areas where coral bleaching has affected other corals, leaving little room for any repopulation. However, corals of the Xeniidae family cannot be reliably identified to species using morphology, thus, in the McFadden lab I have been working on amplifying DNA barcodes that can be utilized to help distinguish between species with more certainty. Using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), I have been amplifying three specific genes. The genes include two mitochondrial genes---COI and mtMutS, and a nuclear ribosomal gene--- 28S. The amplified genes have been sequenced, and I am currently cleaning and combining all three genes to assemble an extended barcode for each sample. I will then be able to compare the barcodes from different samples and group the specimens according to threshold levels in their genetic makeup at the three genes. The program I will be using, MOTHUR, groups samples together into molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) if they have less than a 0.3% average genetic distance. From this, we will be able to get an idea of the species diversity of Xeniidae off Australia. In the following weeks, I will be working on editing the gene sequences as well as troubleshooting samples in which gene amplification was unsuccessful. Rei Imada, Claremont McKenna College, ‘20
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UCE Project TeamAll things Anthozoa, Evolution and Ecology Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation
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