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Molecular Analyses of Diversity
& DNA barcoding |
DNA Barcoding
is a molecular technique for discovery and identification of taxa
- DNA BARCODING We use DNA barcoding as a survey tool for exploring the unknown diversity in ecosystems. DNA barcoding is an approach to specimen identification and biodiversity assessment through the use of DNA sequences. We are developing software tools for anayses of DNA barcode data - jMOTU (and its precursor MOTU_define).
Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units
MOTU is an acronym we invented in the late 1990's to describe the clusters of specimens we were defining based on sequence identity (see here for the original text). A search of online multilingual dictionaries however, revealed that the phoneme has been used for millenia by peoples of the Pacific, where, spookily, it almost means the same thing: to cut off (or define) and an islet (or cluster). Most entertainingly, the word is also used in the context of writing or inscribing, the giving-physical-name-to-things (see below).
The image is of one of the few extant carved wooden panels inscribed with the language of Easter Island. |
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motu (definition in Easter Island)
1. to cut; to snap off: motu-á te hau, the fishing line snapped off; to engrave, to inscribe letters or pictures in stone or in wood, like the motu mo rogorogo, inscriptions for recitation in lines called kohau.
2. islet; some names of islets: Motu Motiro Hiva, Sala y Gómez; and around the island: Motu Nui, Motu Iti, Motu Kaokao, Motu Tapu, Motu Marotiri, Motu Kau, Motu Tavake, Motu Tautara, Motu Ko Hepa Ko Maihori, Motu Hava.
see here for our original definition of MOTU, as posted on the www in 1999
see here for jMOTU, our latest tool for MOTU inference from sequence data
Barcoding Nematodes, Tardigrades and other Meiofauna
We are using molecular methods to perform surveys
of nematode and other meiofaunal biodiversity in terrestrial and marine habitats. This
work builds from our interest in nematode molecular
phylogenetics and an enthusiasm for neglected meiobeasts.
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what |
why |
who |
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The
MOTU concept |
Using molecular markers to define taxa |
Robin Floyd, Eyualem Abebe and Mark
Blaxter |
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MOTU
applied to the terrestrial nematodes of Sourhope
Farm |
As part of the NERC soil biodiversity and ecosystem
function programme we are analysing nematode diversity on a
test site in southern Scotland |
Robin Floyd, Eyualem Abebe and Mark
Blaxter |
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MOTU
applied to marine nematodes |
We have performed preliminary surveys of marine nematode
diversity in Scotland using the MOTU method. |
Robin Floyd, Eyualem Abebe and Mark
Blaxter |
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Nematode
Population Genetics |
a website collating information on molecular methods for
nematode population genetics and diversity studies |
Barbara Wimmer and Mark
Blaxter |
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Website Highlight
The dog heartworm Dirofilaria immitis.
Filarial nematodes are tissue and gut parasites of a wide range of vertebrates, including humans. This species is a canine parasite and gets its common name of "heartworm" because the adults reside in the heart. It is closely related tospecies, such as O. volvulus, that cause human diseases, affecting over 120 million people. See NEMBASE4 for analyses of ESTs from this parasite and many other nematodes.
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