First and Last Name/s of Presenters

Joanna CorenoFollow
Lilly BoveFollow

Mentor/s

Dr. Ashley Stoehr and Dr. Alyssa Woronik

Participation Type

Poster

Abstract

Meiofauna are a diverse group of benthic invertebrates that range between 0.04 mm and 1mm in size. They represent 24 of the 35 animal phyla and are ideal for biomonitoring. Their fast population turnover means that community composition can indicate anthropogenic influence and environmental health. The long-term goal of this project is to determine if visual identification of meiofauna at the level of phyla is sufficient to investigate community changes along a disturbed shoreline (Seaside Park; Bridgeport, CT); or if it is necessary to identify lower taxonomic levels via DNA metabarcoding. The latter would allow for the identification of taxa at genus or species levels based on a short variable region in the DNA. At present, this study aimed to optimize the DNA extraction protocol from samples containing meiofauna and sediment using the Qiagen DNeasy PowerSoil Pro Kit. Specific areas investigated included methods of sample storage (-80C vs. ethanol) and cell lysis (vortex vs. Mini BeadBeater-8). The combined use of frozen samples and the Mini BeadBeater-8 yielded more concentrated and purer samples of DNA. However, PCR was still necessary to visualize any DNA fragments following gel electrophoresis. Future work will include continued optimization of protocols, sequencing, and analysis.

College and Major available

Biology, Molecular & Cellular Biology BS

Location

Digital Commons & West Campus 2nd Floor University Commons

Start Day/Time

4-28-2023 12:00 PM

End Day/Time

4-28-2023 2:00 PM

Students' Information

Joanna Coreno: molecular and cellular biology major, chemistry minor, psychology minor, honors minor (honors student), graduating 2023

Lilly Bove: molecular and cellular biology major, chemistry minor, graduating 2023

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

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Apr 28th, 12:00 PM Apr 28th, 2:00 PM

Optimization of a DNA Extraction Protocol for Meiofaunal Identification

Digital Commons & West Campus 2nd Floor University Commons

Meiofauna are a diverse group of benthic invertebrates that range between 0.04 mm and 1mm in size. They represent 24 of the 35 animal phyla and are ideal for biomonitoring. Their fast population turnover means that community composition can indicate anthropogenic influence and environmental health. The long-term goal of this project is to determine if visual identification of meiofauna at the level of phyla is sufficient to investigate community changes along a disturbed shoreline (Seaside Park; Bridgeport, CT); or if it is necessary to identify lower taxonomic levels via DNA metabarcoding. The latter would allow for the identification of taxa at genus or species levels based on a short variable region in the DNA. At present, this study aimed to optimize the DNA extraction protocol from samples containing meiofauna and sediment using the Qiagen DNeasy PowerSoil Pro Kit. Specific areas investigated included methods of sample storage (-80C vs. ethanol) and cell lysis (vortex vs. Mini BeadBeater-8). The combined use of frozen samples and the Mini BeadBeater-8 yielded more concentrated and purer samples of DNA. However, PCR was still necessary to visualize any DNA fragments following gel electrophoresis. Future work will include continued optimization of protocols, sequencing, and analysis.