This week we finally began working on the DNA sequences we got back. When we visualize the sequences, we can basically read the genetic code for that worm (a small portion of the code might read something like: C A G A T T A). However, sometimes the code gets cluttered and there are two letters in one place (so the same small portion of the code might read something like C A G/C A T T A). We have to go into the code and take out the letter that should not be there (which is the extra C in this case). We have two copies of each sequence so we can use them to proofread each other; that is how we know which letters should and should not be there. We also have to trim off the ends of the sequences since they are often really messy or do not tell us anything. Luckily, most of our sequences were not very cluttered and we cleaned them very quickly. We have run all of our sequences through a database but have only had time to look at a few of the matches we got. However, we have already confirmed one species ribbon worm not previously shown to live in Oregon does, in fact, occur here. This is exciting because the same species has been found in California and Washington, meaning that we can show that their range is at least somewhat continuous along the coastline. We spent one morning this week out collecting more worms at the boat docks near the lab. We are hoping to get worm species we haven’t found in the rocky intertidal zone or the mudflats yet. We are also planning to obtain some worms in kelp holdfasts (the root-like structure that kelp uses to anchor itself to the sea floor) through SCUBA diving later this week, weather permitting. This will give us even more species of worms we haven’t seen in the places we have already sampled. These two collections will be the last ones we do before the program ends but will give us plenty of material to keep us busy for the next few weeks. Although I am studying marine biodiversity for the REU program, I had an amazing opportunity to help put in a new forest research plot in the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve with Dr. Alice Yeates and Anna Liang over the weekend. They are studying different areas of the forest to help inform management decisions in a local estuary (the area around where fresh water from rivers meets salt water from an ocean). I have never done any sort of forest research before so I learned a ton of new skills, such as: assigning trees ID numbers, measuring tree height, and finding diameter. It was fantastic to get out and explore beyond the coast; hopefully, I will be able to go out again with them soon.
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AuthorI am Jacob and am from Rancho Cucamonga, CA. I am a rising Junior at Pomona College in Claremont, CA who has never studied marine biology in school before but has always been interested in it. I am incredibly excited to spend the next two months working in Svetlana Maslakova’s lab studying Nemertean (ribbon worm) biodiversity through genetic analysis. Archives
August 2021
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