Presenters: Avery Larsen, College of science, Biology
Authors: T. Heath Ogden, Aaron Fairbourn, Avery Larsen
Faculty Advisor: Heath Ogden, College of Science, Biology
Institution: Utah Valley University
COI Barcoding in Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) Abstract Targeting Mitochondrial Cytochrome c oxidase I or the COI gene is very effective for DNA barcoding. There has been a considerable amount of work done already for the order Ephemeroptera using COI data. Objective: 1) Generate new COI data for mayflies present in the UVU Ogden Lab mayfly tissue collection. 2) Use the Barcoding Of Life Database (BOLD) to identify and confirm identifications of mayflies in the collection. Purpose: This research intends to expand the Ogden lab’s current mayfly dataset by targeting the COI gene in taxa that currently lack a species classification. Generated COI data will provide a DNA barcode to facilitate identification. An improved dataset with confirmed identifications will benefit the lab as it works to map the phylogenies of other Ephemeroptera families. This research may also show how effective the data is from any other geographic region of the world compared to the USA. Methods: We will filter the entire database for specimens that lack COI data. We will generate sequence data for these taxa. PCR (polymerase chain reaction) will be administered to the already extracted DNA of these taxa. Successful PCR products will be sequenced by targeting the COI gene, and by using the LCO forward primer and HCO reverse primer. The remaining taxa which already have COI data will be processed using BOLD to identify or confirm identifications.