A rapid protocol for generating arthropod DNA barcodes suitable for use with undergraduate students

ABSTRACT

We provide a protocol for rapid DNA extraction from spiders suitable for undergraduate practical sessions. Students who were previously naïve to the theory and laboratory technique of DNA barcoding were successfully able to extract and recover 29 DNA sequences from 16 species of small spiders in the family Linyphiidae. We anticipate that with careful selection of specimens, undergraduate students could participate in sessions which both benefit their professional development and further taxonomic understanding across a variety of organisms.

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• citizen science
• systematics
• taxonomy
• interdisciplinary

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the biology technical support staff (Mrs Penny Hood, Mrs Maureen Cunningham, Mr Alasdair Stenhouse and Mrs Tanya Sneddon) at the University of St Andrews for their help setting up the practical and facilitating its smooth completion. We would also like to thank the students who participated in the practical and who engaged well with the material.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary information

The following supplemental material is available online:

Brown et al. 2018 Supplementary Information.docx: An annotated version of the student protocol with suggested modifications based on our experience running the session A list of aliquots required for the practical, and DNA barcodes for each species.

Supplementary Table 1.xlsx: The specimen occurrence data and details of sequencing success, including a list of specimens examined which did not produce useable barcodes.

Additional information

Funding

This work was not supported by any external funding.