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    Published: January 5, 2015

    Let's discover the "invisible world" - Using next-generation sequencing to uncover the microbial community inside spiny ants

    Stephanie Ware, Manager, Morphology Labs, SEM

    Project Mentors: Dr. Corrie S. Moreau (Associate Curator, Integrative Research Center) and Manuela Ramalho (Visiting Graduate Student, Integrative Research Center)

    Project Description: Symbiotic interactions are responsible for the evolution and diversity of life on the planet. To better understand the evolutionary significance of these associations in nature, further studies addressing the diversity of hosts and symbionts are necessary. Insects as hosts are considered an ideal group of organisms for the study of endosymbionts, since they are tolerant with the coexistence of microorganisms internally and externally on the body. There are about 15,000 species of ants widely spread distributed over the globe. The great diversity of the group is due to the great ecological success, resulting in various forms of nesting, feeding preferences and social behaviors with division of labor between castes. The spiny ants (genus Polyrhachis) have a wide distribution, diverse habits, and are often associated with endosymbionts, the “invisible world”. However there are few studies in this area, so there are many remaining questions about these associations. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Illumina MiSeq2000 can facilitate the discovery of the microbiota associated with the host, showing to be an excellent tool for the characterization of communities previously little studied, such as the microbial diversity associated with insects and how the evolution and ecology of the host may structure host-associated bacterial diversity. The 2015 REU project will investigate the microbiota associated with spiny ants from across their distribution and in the context of their evolutionary history (phylogeny). This study may reveal important aspects of the biology of the Polyrhachis ants, the influence on endosymbionts in this diverse group, in addition to types of symbiotic interactions involved.

    Research methods and techniques: REU participants in this project will be trained in molecular methods and knowledge of insect biology. Molecular methods will include DNA extraction, PCR and NGS Illumina MiSeq2000 sequencing. Moreover, interns will learn sequence data analyses and some knowledge of bioinformatics.


    Stephanie Ware
    Manager, Morphology Labs

    Stephanie started volunteering at the Field Museum in 1998, working with Curator John Bates in the Bird Division. In 1999, John Bates hired her as a research assistant. After that project finished in 2007, she went to work for Carl Dick in the Division of Insects helping him to complete his work on the museum's Bat Fly collection. She spent a great deal of time generating images for the Bat Fly portion of theDiptera Taxonomy Database. When Carl left for University of Kentucky in 2009, she continued her imaging work in the Insect Division. In the intervening years, she has imaged hundreds specimens, mostly types, from the rove beetle (Staphylinidae), ant and myriapoda collections.

    Stephanie began working with the Chicago Peregrine Program in 2006.  Initially, she monitored the Metropolitan Correctional Center nest in downtown Chicago.  Over time, her duties have expanded to include other nests in the metro region, emphasizing the identification of nesting adults.  In March of 2007, Stephanie created a group called Midwest Peregrine Falcons on the photo sharing website Flickr with the goal of providing a place for photographers across the country to submit their photographs of peregrine sightings in the Midwestern United States. She also has many of her own peregrine photos on Flickr as well.