By Alegria O. Bautista

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Theresa M. Grana

Abstract

PRIMER DESIGN FOR DIVERSE NEMATODES. Alegria O. Bautista & Theresa M. Grana, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Mary Washington. DNA Barcoding has revolutionized knowledge regarding the number of species worldwide and distinguishing cryptic species. This method has been beneficial by aiding in biomedical and agricultural research discoveries through another technique known as genome sequencing. Nematodes are a common organism used for this process due to their short generation time and easy maintenance in the lab, but benefits come with issues. A taxonomic impediment exists where increased species discovered causes unsustainable identification and description. A segment of DNA was taken from gathered strains of nematodes. It was used to identify their species through the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification technique, which concentrates on the ITS2-rDNA region to differentiate nematodes. The primers 18S and worms 26R were used when running PCR because they yield results comparable to other sequences. For this research, the gathered nematode sequences were compared to different sequences using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). It identified them as Oscheius tipulae, Panagrolaimus detritophagus, and Panagrolaimus subelongatus. Utilizing DNA barcoding narrows the gap between the discovery and identification of species due to their efficiency and accessibility. Univ. of Mary Washington Undergraduate Research Grant. Author Contact: abautis2@mail.umw.edu.