Digital Commons Network^™

Dna Barcoding Of Springsnails (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda) Endemic To The Trans-Pecos Region Of Texas (Usa), Kathryn E. Perez, Vanessa Saenz, Natalia Salazar-Lozano, Benjamin F. Schwartz, Benjamin T. Hutchins

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In desert environments, unique communities depend on groundwater from springs, including a diverse radiation of small (<5 >mm) snails found in the desert across the southwestern United States. Nearly all springsnail species are considered critically imperiled with their existence depending on maintenance of spring-flows in regions of declining water availability. Extant, endemic springsnails in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas include one species of Pseudotryonia Hershler, 2001, five nominal Tryonia W. Stimpson, 1865 (Cochliopidae) and seven Pyrgulopsis Call & Pilsbry, 1886 (Hydrobiidae). Four of these are classified as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act. Surveys for springsnails were conducted at …

Ancyronyx Jhoanae Sp. Nov. (Coleoptera: Elmidae), A New Spider Riffle Beetle Species From Luzon, Philippines, And New Records For A. Tamaraw Freitag, 2013, Christalle Beatriz N. Seno, Hendrik Freitag

Biology Faculty Publications

Ancyronyx jhoanae sp. nov., a new species of genus Ancyronyx Erichson, 1847 from Luzon is described using an integrative taxonomic approach. Illustrations of habitus and diagnostic characters are provided. Molecular analysis of a fragment of the COI 5’-end was employed to support the morphological species concept. Differences from closely related species based on molecular and morphological data are discussed. First records of A. tamaraw Freitag, 2013 from Luzon are reported.

Do Regional Dna Barcode Databases Lead To More Efficient Specimen Identification?, Michael Kerr, Steven D. Leavitt

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2023

DNA barcoding is a method for identifying specimens from specific regions of DNA. 1 Metabarcoding focuses on large, multi specimen scales. 2 These approaches rely on DNA databases for sequence identification, 2 but these databases often lack data from many species, 3 especially from poorly studied groups such as fungi 4 and lichens, which can lead to failure in specimen identification.

Molecular And Morphological Investigations Of Grouper (Serranidae) Biodiversity In Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Saeed Al Jazza Alqahtani

Theses and Dissertations

Chapter 1: The seas surrounding the Arabian Peninsula, which represent the northernmost portion of the Indian Ocean, are considered to have the highest aquatic biodiversity among the worlds marine regions. Seas that surround the Arabian Peninsula include the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Gulf. In aggregate, this area harbors a large number of endemic and more widespread marine species, including fishes, echinoderms, and corals.

There are unique challenges involved in grouper species identification in the Arabian region including ‘familiar’ Arabic species designations that are not standardized in the Arabic …

Patterns Of Herbivory In Neotropical Forest Katydids As Revealed By Dna Barcoding Of Digestive Tract Contents, Christine M. Palmer, Nicole L. Wershoven, Sharon J. Martinson, Hannah M. Ter Hofstede, W. John Kress, Laurel B. Symes

Integrative Biology Publications

Many well-studied animal species use conspicuous, repetitive signals that attract both mates and predators. Orthopterans (crickets, katydids, and grasshoppers) are renowned for their acoustic signals. In Neotropical forests, however, many katydid species produce extremely short signals, totaling only a few seconds of sound per night, likely in response to predation by acoustically orienting predators. The rare signals of these katydid species raises the question of how they find conspecific mates in a structurally complex rainforest. While acoustic mechanisms, such as duetting, likely facilitate mate finding, we test the hypothesis that mate finding is further facilitated by colocalization on particular host …

The Relationship Between Population Dynamics And Dietary Preferences Within Two Snake Genera (Storeria And Thamnophis), Molly M. Dixon

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Amidst massive losses in biodiversity, it is vital to identify the factors driving species declines. The main objective of this research was to assess dietary differences between Storeria dekayi and Thamnophis sirtalis and their less abundant and more geographically restricted sister species, Storeria occipitomaculata and Thamnophis butleri, in Illinois and Michigan. I hypothesized that greater abundance and more cosmopolitan distribution are associated with consuming a wide variety of prey and more nonnative prey. To assess diets, I conducted field surveys of Storeria and Thamnophis and analyzed DNA metabarcoding data from fecal samples. I found no significant difference in the …

Creating A Georgia Southern Spider Collection: Can Dna Barcoding Help?, Guy B. Hobbs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With over 280 spider (Araneae) species recorded within the State of Georgia, USA, the need for a well-documented natural history collection with a usable voucher system is critical to continually assess spider diversity and their future ecological impact in this region. Spider identification can be daunting for the inexperienced taxonomist; it is time consuming and sometimes requires destructive procedures. Previous works have successfully used an alternative method, DNA barcoding, to correctly identify spider species while preserving their morphology. This study set forth to create the core of a well-documented spider collection within Georgia Southern University’s Institute for Coastal Plain Science …

Diet Composition And Mercury Exposure In Bank Swallows (Riparia Riparia) Breeding At Lakeshore And Aggregate Pits, Corrine S. V. Génier

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Bank Swallows (Riparia riparia), a threatened species in Ontario, breed primarily in banks at lakeshores and in artificial aggregate pits. Inland pits may be ecological traps for this species, but the relative tradeoffs between these two nesting habitats are unknown. Availability of aquatic emergent insects at lakeshores may have associated nutritional benefits (e.g. Omega-3 fatty acids) and contaminants (e.g. mercury) that can directly influence juvenile growth. This study compares these breeding habitats to evaluate dietary differences as revealed by fatty acids, stable isotopes (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, δ²H), fecal DNA barcoding, and mercury. Lakeshore-nesting …

First Record Of The Megamouth Shark, Megachasma Pelagios, (Family Megachasmidae) In The Tropical Western North Atlantic Ocean, Grisel Rodriguez-Ferrer, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Michelle Schärer, Craig Lilyestrom, Jan P. Zegarra, Mahmood Shivji

Biology Faculty Articles

Background: A new record of Megachasma pelagios is here reported for the tropical western North Atlantic Ocean from Puerto Rico. Results: On December 10, 2016, a tourist reported an unusual stranded shark on Mojacasabe Beach, Cabo Rojo, on the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico. Visual examination of the carcass and mitochondrial DNA analysis from a dorsal fin sample revealed it to be a 457 cm female megamouth shark. Conclusion: This record represents the first record of M. pelagios for the tropical western North Atlantic Ocean within the Caribbean Sea of southwest Puerto Rico and only the second record of M. …

The Biodiversity Of Gastrointestinal Nematodes In South African Wildlife, Chalis J. Bird

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

In this study, I investigated the diversity of parasites found in cheetah and wild ungulates in South Africa in collaboration with the Samara Private Game Reserve in Graaff Reinet, South Africa. Scat samples were collected over a period of two months, from September November, 2014, and DNA was extracted on the preserve for gastrointestinal nematode analysis. Wildlife was tracked using radio telemetry, tracks, and sign, while habitat and host distribution were documented. The aim was to determine the community composition of gastrointestinal nematodes in the wildlife hosts through molecular identification and to examine the role of host habitat preference, geographical …

Genetic And Morphological Diversity Along Altitudinal Gradients In The Genus Rhoadsia (Teleostei: Characidae: Rhoadsiinae), Grace Malato

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The Neotropics have the highest fish species diversity of any area in the world, with some experts estimating that as many as 4000 species of fishes are present in freshwater ecosystems. Elevational gradients are partially responsible for this diversity due to the rapidly changing ecological conditions associated with changes in altitude in rivers. One area where elevational gradients are particularly important is Western Ecuador; this region forms part of a biodiversity hotspot extending south from Panama along the western side of the Andes. Fish species diversity is relatively low because of the small size of most of the river drainages …

Dna Barcoding Expands Dietary Identification And Reveals Dietary Similarity In Jamaican Frugivorous Bats, Colin E. Hayward

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Detailed identification of diet is imperative for investigations of community structure, pollination and seed dispersal. Using DNA barcoding, I studied the diets of Jamaican fruitbats and how they compared. I identified dietary constituents of three morphologically distinct bat species, Artibeus jamaicensis, Ariteus flavescens and Glossophaga soricina from 135 fecal samples collected in Cockpit Country, Jamaica. DNA barcoding identified 11 fruit taxa in the fruitbats' diets, seven more taxa than detected by traditional methods. Dietary overlap among fruitbat species was significantly high (O = 0.66, p<0.05) despite distinct morphologies but A. jamaicensis and G. soricina consumed some fruit taxa exclusively. A. jamaicensis (largest) had …

Safeguarding Forensic Dna Reference Samples With Nullomer Barcodes, Jayita Goswami, Michael C. Davis, Tim Andersen, Abdelkrim Alileche, Greg Hampikian

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Unintended transfer of biological material containing DNA is a concern to all laboratories conducting PCR analysis. While forensic laboratories have protocols in place to reduce the possibility of contaminating casework samples, there is no way to detect when a reference sample is mislabeled as evidence, or contaminates a forensic sample. Thus there is public concern regarding the safeguarding of DNA submitted to crime labs. We demonstrate a method of introducing an internal amplification control to reference samples, in the form of a nullomer barcode which is based upon sequences absent or rare from publically accessible DNA databases. The detection of …

The Tick Genus Amblyomma In Africa: Phylogeny And Mutilocus Dna Barcoding, Omobolanle Kushimo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The tick genus Amblyomma includes approximately 130 species, 28 of which are found on the African continent and/ or in Madagascar. In order to understand the evolutionary phylogeography of the genus, it is necessary to gain a better understanding of the relationships between African taxa. Therefore, the main goals of this work were to, (1) reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships of the African Amblyomma available to us and (2) test markers for their usefulness as barcoding tools to link unknown immature specimens to their corresponding adults. The mitochondrial gene markers used in this study (12SrDNA and COI) did not resolve the …

Nuclear Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (Its) Region As A Universal Dna Barcode Marker For Fungi, Eric Tretter, Yan Wang, Eric M. Johnson, Merlin M. White

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Six DNA regions were evaluated as potential DNA barcodes for Fungi, the second largest kingdom of eukaryotic life, by a multinational, multilaboratory consortium. The region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 used as the animal barcode was excluded as a potential marker, because it is difficult to amplify in fungi, often includes large introns, and can be insufficiently variable. Three subunits from the nuclear ribosomal RNA cistron were compared together with regions of three representative protein-coding genes (largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, and minichromosome maintenance protein). Although the protein-coding …

Assessing The Phylogenetic Utility Of Dna Barcoding Using The New Zealand Cicada Genus Kikihia, Megan Ribak

Honors Scholar Theses

DNA Barcoding (Hebert et al. 2003) has the potential to revolutionize the process of identifying and cataloguing biodiversity; however, significant controversy surrounds some of the proposed applications. In the seven years since DNA barcoding was introduced, the Web of Science records more than 600 studies that have weighed the pros and cons of this procedure. Unfortunately, the scientific community has been unable to come to any consensus on what threshold to use to differentiate species or even whether the barcoding region provides enough information to serve as an accurate species identification tool. The purpose of my thesis is to analyze …