Summer Research Pt I

Harvey Mudd Junior Mike Adams taking a break from setting up a PCR to smile at the camera. Thanks for all your hard work this summer!

Over the past three weeks we have been working hard in the McFadden lab to prepare 47 Paramuricea samples for Restriction Site Associated DNA Sequencing (RADSeq). These samples come from Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, and Whittard Canyon off the coast of Ireland. Ultimately we wish to compare the phylogenetic tree we build from the RADSeq data to a tree built using genes that have been conventionally used for octocoral systematics to understand species boundaries in this genus. In order to do this we have successfully extracted high quality DNA from Paramuricea samples collected during the RV Celtic Explorer cruise that took place last month. We have also been working to amplify mtMutS and COI, and n28S from all Paramuricea samples collected off Ireland; those from the Gulf of Mexico and Canada are completed (see Doughty et al. 2014). Because the DNA from some of the older samples collected off Canada and in the Gulf are degraded,  we will be re-extracting the DNA from original tissue samples over the next week or so. Plus, we just obtained tissue samples from Paramuricea in the Mediterranean.  We hope to submit samples for RADSeq by the end of the month. We will update you on the results!

​Mike Adams (Harvey Mudd '18)

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