Molecular Techniques and their application

EMBC+ MODULE 2: Toolbox for investigating marine Biodiversity

1) Sample preservation for genetic analysis. DNA extraction protocols. DNA quantification and quality assessment
2) Primer design, PCR set up, gel electrophoresis and PCR purification.
3) Techniques for detecting DNA variation based on PCR: loci VNTR, RFLP, AFLP, RAPD, SSCP, SNP.
3) Microsatellite amplification and data analysis.
4) Sequence analysis. Software for analysis, edition and alignment ofsequences.
5) Real time PCR and Microarrays
6) Variable genetic markers and their applications. Determination of paternity and kinship. Applications of variable genetic markers to the study of population genetic structure and gene flow.
7) Invariant genetic markers and their applications. Identification of races and stocks. Developing plans for preserving significant populations. Species identification: detection of hybridization, stock assessment, fraud detection. Development of invariant markers: sequences of choice, universality.
8) Strategies for developing new genetic markers. Marker choice depending on study objectives. Heterologous markers, advantages and problems. Homologous markers: from the gene library to the DNA chip.
9) Molecular resources in Internet. Molecular databases. GenBank, EMBL, SWISSPROT, other international
databases. How to handle the main molecular databases: a roadmap. Programs for designing primers

DNA manipulation, Molecular ecology, Molecular databases, Molecular markers, Molecular techniques, Parentage analysis, PCR setup, Sequence analysis, Population analysis

Introductory biology and chemistry


The students learn how to apply modern genetic methodologies to a variety of real-life problems related to natural marine populations and their management in practice.