Project:

Reconstructing a phylogenetic tree of local species of ticks found on pets

Students:

Harrison Banks, Rhea Raghu

School:

Tenafly High School, Other

Mentors:

Helen Coyle

Abstract:

It is estimated that up to 50% of ticks carry disease. Of these diseases, Lyme Disease is common, with an average of 44.9 cases of Lyme Disease reported per 100,000 people in New Jersey. These pathogens are listed on databases accessible online. The purpose of this project is to create a database of local tick species, and a database of local tick-borne disease in order to make information on local tick species and their diseases readily available. We will collect 30 tick samples from two veterinary clinics in Northern New Jersey. We will extract the DNA from each of these samples, perform a PCR and gel electrophoresis. We will then use DNA Subway and BLAST to determine the species of each sample. DNA Subway will also be used to construct a phylogenetic tree of our samples. We will use the CDC “Diseases Transmitted by Ticks” database to determine the diseases associated with each tick species. We hypothesize that we will find a high diversity of tick species and their probable path

Poster:

Team samples: