Posters
Wolbacia Bacteria and the Endangered Tiger Beetle
Location
Hall Memorial Ballroom
Access Type
Open Access
Start Date
4-4-2018 12:00 PM
Department
Biological Science
Abstract
Tiger beetles are a common and widespread group of insects that live in habitats ranging from deserts to beaches in patches of cleared land. Tiger Beetle species are rare and endangered, when once they were abundant. Their recent decrease in numbers is leading scientist to try new methods in finding the answer as to why there is such a rapid decline in numbers as well as understand why there is extreme variation in their physical appearance from one population to the next. The purpose of this experiment is to identify the presence of Wolbachia pipentis bacteria, as a possible mechanism for rapid speciation in the rare Tiger Beetle species. The Tiger Beetles are collected from all over the United States and parts of Canada such as, Nevada, Utah, Virginia and New Mexico, by our collaborator from Randolph Macon College who specializes in insect identification. We have extracted DNA and amplified it using PCR primers specific to the Wolbachia bacteria. The amplified DNA is separated in a gel, which allows us to determine whether a particular insect contains Wolbachia DNA which means the insect is infected with the Wolbachia bacteria. If the insect is positive for Wolbachia, we test more of the insects collected from that region to ascertain if the whole population is possibly infected by the bacteria. If they are and it is in a area of few beetles it could be a big step in understanding why the Tiger Beetle populations are endangered.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Erin Friedman
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Wolbacia Bacteria and the Endangered Tiger Beetle
Hall Memorial Ballroom
Tiger beetles are a common and widespread group of insects that live in habitats ranging from deserts to beaches in patches of cleared land. Tiger Beetle species are rare and endangered, when once they were abundant. Their recent decrease in numbers is leading scientist to try new methods in finding the answer as to why there is such a rapid decline in numbers as well as understand why there is extreme variation in their physical appearance from one population to the next. The purpose of this experiment is to identify the presence of Wolbachia pipentis bacteria, as a possible mechanism for rapid speciation in the rare Tiger Beetle species. The Tiger Beetles are collected from all over the United States and parts of Canada such as, Nevada, Utah, Virginia and New Mexico, by our collaborator from Randolph Macon College who specializes in insect identification. We have extracted DNA and amplified it using PCR primers specific to the Wolbachia bacteria. The amplified DNA is separated in a gel, which allows us to determine whether a particular insect contains Wolbachia DNA which means the insect is infected with the Wolbachia bacteria. If the insect is positive for Wolbachia, we test more of the insects collected from that region to ascertain if the whole population is possibly infected by the bacteria. If they are and it is in a area of few beetles it could be a big step in understanding why the Tiger Beetle populations are endangered.