Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: Cell and Molecular Biology
Ashley Boothe - Hampton University
Co-Author(s): Indu Sharma, Hampton University
Deep-sea Red Crab is a long-lived crustacean that occurs along the outer continental shelf and slope from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to possibly the western South Atlantic including the Gulf of Maine and Gulf of Mexico (Steimle et al., 2001). The environments they inhabit are characterized by high pressure, low temperature, high salinity and no light. Little is known about these red crabs and how they thrive in these extreme environments. The microbial communities in their natural habitat are believed to be of vital importance for their overall survival. At this point nothing is currently known about the microbial communities associated with these crabs. To get a better understanding of these microbial communities, sediments from the environment where they dwell are being acquired to try to create microbial mock communities. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, this technique is based on the separation of polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragments of genes coding for 16S rRNA (Muyzer et al.,1993), we will attempt to identify what organisms compose these microbial communities, to determine what they have to do with the fitness of this species.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): NSF #1607057
Faculty Advisor: Indu Sharma, indu.sharma@hamptonu.edu
Role: I conducted all of the processes from running gels, PCR, DNA isolation, etc.