An Automated DNA Sequencer for the Claremont Colleges

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0070377Elizabeth A. FriarRancho Santa Ana Botanical GardensAn Automated DNA Sequencer for the Claremont CollegesThis award will allow Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (RSABG) to purchase an ABI Prism 377 DNA sequencer (with an XL-C upgrade) for use in the core sequencing laboratory that it provides for use by biologists at the Claremont Colleges. A highly reliable and accurate instrument, the ABI 377 will be used in a core sequencing lab to support research by six major users and a number of minor users at RSABG, Pomona College and Harvey Mudd College. Added to an existing ABI 373 currently operated by RSABG, the ABI 377 will increase overall lab productivity by at least ten-fold, allowing the laboratory to meet a rapidly growing demand for additional sequencing capability for a number of projects. The primary research projects are 1) population and conservation genetics of the endangered and endemic Hawaiian silversword alliance; 2) examination of reticulate patterns of diversification within Polemoniaceae; 3) evolution and classification of North American chloridoid grasses; 4) determinants of homing endonuclease I-Cre I function; 5) molecular phylogeny of hydra and construction of a molecular phylogeny of terrestrial Isopods; and 6) use of DNA sequence data to infer evolutionary relationships among Alcyonacean soft corals. The sequencer will also significantly strengthen education and training activities for graduate and undergraduate students in systematics, evolution, and molecular biology.