BACK TO SCHOOL

I just finished a week of school! The location: University of Florida. The class: Molecular Markers. The goal: To learn how to develop microsatellite markers and then do so for the two species of agave I'll be working with for my new project looking at the foraging ecology of nectarivorous bats in southeastern Arizona (yes, at Fort Huachuca). It was an excellent class (a series of labwork and lectures designed to provide all skills and background information needed to complete the task) with a great instructor, lab managers, and guest lecturers. The only issue? This class is just the tip of the iceburg... microsatellite development actually takes about 6 months from start to finish with the tried-and-true method I learned (and that's just for one species). The alternative? Spend a little more money (most labs pay to have their screened enriched libaries sequenced anyway, and there's the cost of all the kits and reagents needed just to get to that point) and send your DNA out to be libraried and sequenced with the amazing "454", and then just go from there (only about 2-3 months to complete the primer design and optimization). I like option number two... The above photo was taken in the lobby of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research