Term of Award
Summer 2017
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biology (M.S.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Biology
Committee Chair
Daniel Gleason
Committee Member 1
John Harrison
Committee Member 2
Marc Frischer
Abstract
As coral cover has declined throughout the Caribbean, interest in the role that recruitment processes play in reef recovery has increased. Studies investigating these processes have been hampered by the inability to identify many species of coral larvae or recently settled recruits using morphology. In this study, the utility of targeting the non-coding internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions with a multiplex PCR assay to identify common Caribbean coral species was explored. To design this assay, a database of ITS sequences was developed for 17 Caribbean scleractinian coral species that are important reef builders and/or common in the Florida Keys. It was predicted that the ITS region would contain enough genetic variation to allow for separation of these corals to the species level, and that this variation could be targeted using a single-step nested multiplex PCR technique. Analyzing the ITS region, sufficient genetic variation was detected that would allow for nine of the seventeen Caribbean coral species targeted to be categorized to the genus level, and the remaining eight to the species level. Subsequently, three genus-specific primers and six species-specific primers were designed for use in a SSNM-PCR protocol that facilitates coral identification. While still under development, this genetic assay showed significant promise as an efficient method of identifying planula larvae and recently settled coral recruits to the genus or species level. The increased accuracy and abbreviated timeframe offered by this technique for identifying coral larvae and recruits justifies its use as a tool for evaluating Caribbean reef recovery moving forward.
Recommended Citation
O'Cain, Elijah D., "Development of a Molecular Assay for Caribbean Coral Identification" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1625.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1625
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
