supervised by Travis Glenn
SREL DNA Lab
Staff Projects
Lucy
Dueck
supervised
by Travis Glenn
resulting presentations
Lucy is the current DNA lab manager. She has been involved in two research projects herself -- refining pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) technology to detect genotoxic effects as DNA strand breakage, and conservation genetics of captive red pandas.
Cathy
King
supervised by
J. Vaun McArthur
Cathy is working on a project to determine, via cloning and sequencing, the relative amount of eubacteria containing the Mer gene in DNA extracted from aquatic sediment samples. She is amplifying portions of the Mer gene and the eubacterial sequence, cloning individual Mer and eubacterial sequences into E.coli bacteria, and analyzing the variation in Mer and eubacterial sequences using RFLP and sequencing.
Angela
Lindell
supervised
by J. Vaun McArthur
Angela uses molecular techniques to characterize the microbial communities within soil samples. Recently, she examined riparian soils for the presence of types I and II Methanotroph communities, as well as for the presence of five groups of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Upon extracting the environmental DNA from the soil sample, group-specific primers were used to amplify the DNA through PCR. Samples that amplify a specific region are further characterized through Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE). DGGE enables Angela to compare samples from different locations by examining changes in bacterial community composition.
Audrey
Majeske
supervised by
Charles Jagoe and Travis Glenn
Audrey has continued investigating the use of pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and the Comet assay to assess DNA strand breakage caused by ionizing radiation. She has conducted dose-response experiments using the fish, Japanese medaka, as well as analyzed frog tissue collected from Chornobyl. Audrey is continuing her research as a master's student at the University of Georgia.
Mandy
Schable
supervised
by Travis Glenn
"Microsatellite primer development"
Mandy has been developing primers to assess microsatellite loci for a variety of organisms, among them boreal, barred, and burrowing owls, rosy finch, woodstork, caiman, alligators, chipmunks, and red pandas. These projects are often conducted as collaborative efforts with researchers from other institutions. A presentation on burrowing owl genetics was made at the 2001 Conservation Biology meeting which acknowledged our lab for development of the primers they used.
Kari
Schilling, Ryan Thum
supervised
by Travis Glenn
Kari and Ryan were the original technicians who set up the SREL DNA Lab. They isolated microsatellite loci for largemouth bass. Ryan also examined genetic variation of bass from different South Carolina waterbodies using mtDNA D-loop sequencing, and found decreased diversity of the population inhabiting a thermally affected pond. He presented a poster on this latter work.
Julie
Weston
supervised
by Travis Glenn
"Heterozygosity in a protected gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) population"
Despite
their wide occurrence throughout most of the US, the genetic structure of gray
foxes has never been examined. This project seeks to design primers for
the gray fox and to use those primers to examine the amount of heterozygosity in
a protected population of foxes, as well as in the unprotected population in the
surrounding area. With these primers, we will also be able to examine the
social structure of the gray fox by determining the relatedness of individuals
living in close proximity to one another.
"Genetic
sexing of snowy egrets and endangered wood storks"
Wading birds
such as egrets and wood storks are known to feed on fish living in ponds
contaminated with mercury and other toxicants. Since many wading birds are
classified as threatened or endangered, the effects of these contaminants on
reproduction are particularly important. Because these birds are difficult
to sex in the field, we are using genetic markers to determine the sex of an
individual so that this information can be used to more fully understand wading
bird ecology.
