2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium
Location
ScholarSpace, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Presentation Type
Open Access Poster Presentation
Document Type
poster
Keywords
Bees--Genetics;
Abstract
Genetic studies on bees are essential to the understanding of the genetic and species diversity of bees, as well as general prairie health. Diversification of species and genetics are in decline, this means a decline in overall prairie health is inevitable. The University of Northern Iowa has ongoing studies looking into the health of prairies as well as the bee population, with a need for an understanding of how to properly store and extract genetic material from wild bees. We examined the concentration of DNA and fragment size shown in a gel from the bees that were killed using two different killing agents–ethyl acetate or ethanol. We also tested the effect of temperature–and fragment size shown in a gel from the bees we caught. Bees that were killed with both agents were divided into two groups, either stored in ice or in a container kept at the outside temperature until DNA extraction. We predicted ethanol would preserve the DNA more adequately than ethyl acetate. We also predicted storing the bees in ice would preserve the DNA more adequately than storing them at room or the outside temperature. The hypothesis is supported by the results; however, it should be noted that this was a small sample size, meaning the study needs further evaluation and repetition.
Start Date
29-7-2022 11:00 AM
End Date
29-7-2022 1:30 PM
Event Host
Summer Undergraduate Research Program, University of Northern Iowa
Faculty Advisor
Ai Wen
Department
Department of Biology
Copyright
©2022 Brody Jack, Mila Haynes and Ai Wen
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Jack, Brody; Haynes, Mila; and Wen, Ai Ph.D., "Evaluation of Methods to Extract Genetic Material from Wild Bees" (2022). Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium. 2.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/surp/2022/all/2
Evaluation of Methods to Extract Genetic Material from Wild Bees
ScholarSpace, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Genetic studies on bees are essential to the understanding of the genetic and species diversity of bees, as well as general prairie health. Diversification of species and genetics are in decline, this means a decline in overall prairie health is inevitable. The University of Northern Iowa has ongoing studies looking into the health of prairies as well as the bee population, with a need for an understanding of how to properly store and extract genetic material from wild bees. We examined the concentration of DNA and fragment size shown in a gel from the bees that were killed using two different killing agents–ethyl acetate or ethanol. We also tested the effect of temperature–and fragment size shown in a gel from the bees we caught. Bees that were killed with both agents were divided into two groups, either stored in ice or in a container kept at the outside temperature until DNA extraction. We predicted ethanol would preserve the DNA more adequately than ethyl acetate. We also predicted storing the bees in ice would preserve the DNA more adequately than storing them at room or the outside temperature. The hypothesis is supported by the results; however, it should be noted that this was a small sample size, meaning the study needs further evaluation and repetition.
