This award is for the acquisition of an automated instrument for DNA sequencing and genotype analysis. DNA sequencing and genotype analysis will be used extensively for studies on microbial diversity and ecology. These include projects focused on plant-associated and soil-associated microbial diversity in forests, deforested land, and agricultural monocultures in the tropics, on microbial diversity in extreme environments in the Caribbean, and on soil-aquatic ciliate comparisons. Further studies based on cytoplasmic DNA are proposed on populations of rare and endangered vascular plants of the Caribbean, and on the population history and migratory routes of the Amerindians who peopled the region approximately 8,000 years ago. In addition, DNA sequencing will be used extensively for molecular phylogenetic studies in a wide diversity of organisms such as cladocerans, ciliates, bryophytes, and rare and endangered vascular plants of the Antilles. DNA sequencing will also be used as a tool to confirm gene constructs, site-directed mutations, and other steps involving DNA manipulation.
The automated genetic analyzer will play a key role in the Department's goal of establishing a doctoral program. The instrument will have a strong impact on facilitating competitive research and will enhance the quality of a molecular systematics graduate course that is being developed. In these ways, it will make a powerful contribution to the research training of the growing number of graduate students. Furthermore, by facilitating competitive research, it will improve research opportunities for undergraduates, composed 97% of Puerto Ricans, and thus increase their interest and improve their training for graduate research in the U.S. and elsewhere. The impact of the instrument will reach the whole campus, as there is currently no such instrument anywhere on campus or in the city of Mayaguez. The impact will reach beyond U.S. borders because a number of the graduate students are from Latin America and the Caribbean, and because some of the research projects operate at a regional level.
