Marine Biotech Fellowship: A Molecular Analysis of the Phylum Ctenophora

远洋海洋地理学一直受到限制， 区分一个物种的遗传结构。 这些问题包括 当地人口的不断移动，未知的海洋环流 模式，海洋的三维方面和 海洋取样固有的困难。 该项目将 用现代分子生物学方法研究栉水母门的成员 技术，以帮助阐明这种未充分研究的分类 一群有机体。 所有海洋中都有大量的栉水母， 在水柱的各个深度都有。 分布 栉水母通常是斑块状的，这些斑块会随着时间的推移而波动 和位置。 分子生物学家开发的技术（如等位酶 和核酸分析）适用于海洋科学 为海洋科学家提供了新的工具， 海洋人口的分布。 这些技术 用于渔业，但尚未应用于胶质 浮游动物，尽管这个群体的重要性和丰富性。 有许多栉水母物种出现在蒙特雷 湾区，其中大部分还没有被描述。这个项目 将包括：1. 标本采集和隔离 基因组DNA集中在蒙特雷湾，浅水和深水， 水资源; 2。利用聚合酶链反应 扩增核编码的小核糖体亚基基因（ssRNA）， 间隔区和线粒体的某些DNA片段 基因组; 3. 用限制酶分析扩增的DNA， 为了检测任何限制性片段长度多态性， 存在：4。扩增DNA的测序或者直接 来自PCR产物或在克隆产物之后; 5.分析 将使用DOTPLOT、BESTFIT和 差距/随机化; 6.澄清动物门的分类 Ctenophora使用的分子数据和经典的组合 数据（形态学和自然历史）。 ssRNA的使用 序列将是最有用的更高的分类水平， 来自间隔区或mtDNA区域的序列信息 将有助于研究物种内的变异。

Pelagic biogeography has been limited by the inability to distinguish genetic structure of a species. The problems include constant movement of local populations, unknown oceanic circulation patterns, the 3-dimensional aspect of the ocean and the difficulties inherent with oceanic sampling. This project will examine members of the Phylum Ctenophora using modern molecular techniques to help elucidate the taxonomy of this understudied group of organisms. Ctenophores are abundant in all the oceans and occur at all depths in the water column. Distribution of ctenophores is often patchy and these patches can fluctuate in time and location. The techniques developed by molecular biologists (e.g. allozymes and nucleic acid analyses) are appropriate for the marine sciences and represent novel tools for the marine scientist to examine the distribution of marine populations. These techniques have been utilized for fisheries but have not been applied to gelatinous zooplankton despite the importance and abundance of this group. There are a number of ctenophore species that occur in the Monterey Bay area, the majority of which are still undescribed. This project will consist of:: 1. Collection of specimens and the isolation of genomic DNA focused on Monterey Bay with shallow-water and deep- water collections; 2. Use of the Polymerase Chain Reaction to amplify the nuclear encoded small ribosomal subunit genes (ssRNA), spacer regions, and certain DNA segments of the mitochondrial genome; 3. Analyze the amplified DNA with restriction enzymes in order to detect any Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms that are present: 4. Sequencing of the amplified DNA either directly from the PCR product or after cloning the product; 5. Analysis of the sequences will be done using DOTPLOT, BESTFIT, and GAP/RANDOMIZATION; 6. Clarification of the taxonomy of the Phylum Ctenophora using a combination of the molecular data and classical data (morphology and natural history). The use of the ssRNA sequences will be most useful for the higher taxonomic levels while the sequence information from the spacer region or mtDNA regions will be useful for examining the variation within species.