Measuring Genetic Variation in Zebra Mussels Using Protein Electrophoresis

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 1999, Volume 20

Abstract

At the 1997 ABLE meeting in Calgary Jim Bader (Case Western Reserve University) presented a major workshop on using cellulose acetate electrophoresis to measure genetic variability in natural populations (Bader, 1998). At the University of Toronto we have been using a very similar protocol, with fruit flies as the study organism. In the 1997-98 academic year I incorporated several of Jim's ideas into our existing protocol and changed the study organism to zebra mussels, with considerable success (1,500 first-year students completed this exercise over a two-week period). In this article I share my experiences with you and provide the "details" so you can conduct the lab yourself, such as which enzyme system gives results that are easy for the students to interpret.

Keywords:  population genetics, protein electrophoresis

Florida State University (1998)