The team also tested a coral tissue biopsy technique using 60 mL syringes to minimize damage to the coral colonies. Graduate student Ryan Eckert has successfully extracted DNA from these samples and will compare nucleic acid quality between this new technique and our previous sampling methods. If successful, we plan to employ this syringe-based method during an upcoming research expedition to the Smithsonian research station on Carrie Bow Cay, Belize.
Stay tuned for project results, including our lab’s presentations at the upcoming Benthic Ecology Meeting in South Carolina.