Wednesday, June 6, 2007 - 9:00 AM
187

Use of DNA-Signatures and Micro-Array Analyses for Assessing Freshwater Invertebrate Biodiversity: Current Challenges and Future Promises

Charles P. Hawkins1, Michael Pfrender2, Paula Hartzell3, Phil Larsen3, Mark Bagley4, Greg Courtney5, Brian R. Creutzburg1, John H. Epler6, Steve Fend7, Leonard C. Ferrington Jr.8, Suzanne Jackson4, André Lévesque9, John C. Morse10, Matthew Petersen5, Andrea J. Radwell11, David Ruiter12, David Schindel13, and Michael Whiting14. (1) Western Center for Monitoring and Assessment of Fresh Water Ecosystems, Department of Watershed Sciences, and Ecology Center, Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-5210, (2) Department of Biology, Utah State University, 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-5305, (3) Western Ecology Division / Aquatic Monitoring and Bioassessment Branch, US Environmental Protection Agency, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, (4) Molecular Ecology Research Branch / National Exposure Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, (5) Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, 3222 Science, Ames, IA 50011-3222, (6) Private Consultant, Tiger Hammock Road, Wakulla Springs, FL 32327, (7) 345 Middlefield Rd. M/S 465, US Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd. M/S 465, Menlo Park, CA 94025, (8) Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, 219 Hodson Hall, 1980 Folwell Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55104, (9) Biodiversity (Mycology and Botany), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 960 Carling Avenue, KW Neatby Bldg, Ottawa, ON K1A 0C6, Canada, (10) Department of Entomology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, (11) Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, SCEN Room 601, Fayetteville, AR 72701, (12) EPA Region 8, US Environmental Protection Agency, 999 18th Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80121, (13) Consortium for the Barcode of Life / National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, MRC-105, Washington, DC, (14) Department of Integrative Biology, Brigham Young University, BYU DNA Sequencing Center, 693 WIDB, Provo, UT 801-422-5651

Assessments of ecological health heavily depend on estimates of biodiversity. In freshwater ecosystems, invertebrates comprise the vast majority of metazoan species, but the information collected during field surveys is severely limited by our inability to easily, quickly, and consistently identify the collected individuals to species level. Methods are needed to both improve the accuracy and precision of this information and reduce the time it takes to generate usable data. In November 2006, we held a workshop at Utah State University to discuss if recent advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing and micro-array technology can provide the basis for a new generation of novel molecular-based approaches for species identification. We agreed that, although some technical challenges remain, application of these emerging technologies could quickly revolutionize the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of freshwater monitoring programs throughout the world. Furthermore, these technologies should also stimulate much needed work on the systematics of freshwater invertebrates.


Web Page: www.biology.usu.edu/labsites/pfrender/Biodiversity.htm