MRI: Acquisition of an automated genetic analyzer by the Department of Biology at Middle Tennessee State University

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The Biology Department at Middle Tennessee State University has been awarded a grant to purchase an ABI 3130xl automated genetic analyzer with DNA sequencing and genotyping capabilities. The long term goal of the Biology Department at MTSU is to maintain faculty who conduct contemporary research, obtain competitive external funding to maintain their research programs and engage graduate and undergraduate students in dynamic research and instruction. This instrument will expand possible avenues of research and enhancing existing research activities for current faculty. Additionally, this instrument will support instruction for students in DNA sequencing and DNA fragment analysis. Many of the faculty in the Biology Department at MTSU are engaged in research that span the breadth of sequencing and genotyping applications and the use of this equipment will allow them and their faculty mentors to answer questions related to basic molecular genetics, diagnostics, and determination of inter- and intra-species relationships. Data collected with this genetic analyzer will be available through public databases such as GenBank, Moorea Biocode Database, and Tree of Life. Analysis of data and full descriptions of projects will be published in peer reviewed journals such as Cladistics, Molecular Ecology, Proceedings of the Royal Society, American Journal of Botany, Systematic Entomology, and Evolution, among others.