Project:

Invasion of Plants in An Urban Garden:Using DNA Barcodes of Plants in Bailu Garden,Suzhou to Assess Potential Invasive Species

Students:

Siqi Hu

School:

Big Bridge Academy, Other

Mentors:

Dave Micklos and Xinyue Wang

Abstract:

Urban parks often contain a mix of native and introduced plant species, some of the introduced species may threaten local biodiversity. This project aims to assess whether widely distributed plants in Suzhou Bailu Garden pose a potential risk of invasion to the park’s ecosystem. During the process, we use Chelex DNA isolation,Silica DNA isolation (for samples that failed the first PCR) and PCR. The samples are sequenced by GENEWIZ and Oxford Nanopore Technology. I expect to identify the species and origin of the samples and assess their risk of invasion by using PHYLIP to explore their relationship with known invasive species. It turns out that the park is being invaded. Among the 13 samples, 10 are non-native.Cuscuta campestris,Verbena bonariensis and Compositae plants such as Conyza bonariensis and Oligoneuron have great potential for being invasive.

Poster:

Team samples:

See all samples for project