DNA sequencing  serves as a vehicle in our discovery of marine gelatinous grazers and the diverse roles they play. DNA will be extracted from the guts of several taxa of gelatinous grazers for sequencing of the microbial community present. 

 

These DNA technologies help us discover the microbial prey of gelatinous grazers. We are given an inside look, from the cellular level, on the food web of the ocean’s microbial ecosystem. DNA sequencing allows us to see which organisms are eating which microbes and how the feeding mechanics of the different gelatinous grazers impact the prey they consume. This sequencing approach allows us to identify consumed prey with high taxonomic resolution, even if they are partially degraded or present in low abundance.

 

DNA extraction and sequencing helps us understand marine gelatinous grazers and the roles they play in their communities and ultimately global microbial processes.

​

DNA sequencing process

Image by Dr. Anne Thompson