Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Saarinen, Emily

Area of Concentration

Biology

Abstract

In this study, I screened a Tawny-edged Skipper (Polites themistocles) population of 26 individuals collected from northeastern South Dakota for Wolbachia. Wolbachia is an endosymbiotic bacteria that negatively affects host reproduction. PCR products for Wolbachia 16S and arthropod 28S were prepared and gel electrophoresis was used to detect Wolbachia infection in the population. This study found that 96% of the Tawnyedged Skipper population presented with Wolbachia. This supports the literature that Wolbachia is prevalent in insect species. I then selected five P. themistocles (Poth) individuals from the population and performed sequence analysis using an established multilocus sequence typing (MLST) protocol for the purpose of Wolbachia strain identification. Next, I analyzed my Poth sequences with Hesperia dacotae (Heda) (related but endangered species) sequences and found that they are likely infected by the same or similar strain of Wolbachia. Strain identification is important for formulating conservation plans, such as genetic rescue or potentially using P. themistocles as a surrogate species for the endangered H. dacotae. Overall, screening for Wolbachia presence and strain identification are necessary steps that must be taken prior to implementing conservation strategies.

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