Life Sciences Commons^™

Monitoring Biodiversity Using Aquatic Environmental Dna And Nanopore Sequencing, Jordan Callahan

SURE (Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience)

This project aimed to detect wetland organismal diversity on the Stonehill College campus by sequencing free aquatic eDNA collected from water samples in the seasonal wetland behind O’Hara Hall and Shields Science Center. The Oxford Nanopore MinION DNA sequencer offered real-time data collection at a relatively low cost and demonstrated an “in-the-field” workflow. DNA was extracted from water samples collected using a pump-filter collection apparatus. Protocols for Nanopore sequencing were established and surveys plan to be conducted in order to measure standing plant diversity around the sampling locations. Plant reads from each sample yielded plants primarily from the Brassica, Callitriche, …