The Use of DNA Barcoding to Teach Students the Importance of Classifying Biodiversity

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2018, Volume 39

Antonia Florio, Noemi Rivera, & Kathleen Nolan

Abstract

Students can develop an awareness and concern for biodiversity loss by learning to identify the organisms around their neighborhoods or campuses. In response to this, we have implemented DNA barcoding curriculum at St. Francis College (SFC) to identify species in New York City (NYC). Classifying species based on morphology can prove challenging for students because they often become frustrated by species descriptions and taxonomic keys. The use of DNA barcoding has been championed as a way to overcome this, while also providing an inquiry-based approach for student-driven research. Using the DNA barcoding method, students propose projects, collect samples, extract whole genomic DNA, and use PCR to amplify the appropriate gene for their taxonomic group (plants: chloroplast genes rbcL and matk; animals: mitochondrial COI; fungi: nuclear ITS; and bacteria: 16S rRNA). Successful PCRs (confirmed by gel electrophoresis) can then either be sequenced in-house or sent away to a company for Sanger sequencing. Students clean their data using any sequence editing program, and perform BLAST searches through Genbank to identify their samples. Students can also learn how to resolve evolutionary relationships by generating multiple sequence alignments and phylogenetic trees. This poster will summarize how we have used DNA barcoding at SFC to introduce high school and undergraduate students to classifying NYC biodiversity. The pros and cons of the method are presented, and a framework for implementing the project over a semester is proposed.

Keywords:  biodiversity, DNA barcoding

University of Wisconsin, Madison (2017)