WKU Bio 175 Honors University Experience Upper Green River Barcode of Life (BoL) Project - Identifying species on the basis of morphology can be an extremely challenging task. Many species can only be identified by an expert familiar with the intimate details of an organism's biology. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer people are trained in traditional techniques of species identification and taxonomy.

To counteract this trend and to make species identification more straightforward for a large number of researchers, an international consortium of investigators has started to collect a standard set of DNA sequences for all species of organisms. By sequencing the same gene for all species, the sequence of that gene can serve as a unique "barcode" or identifier. This collaborative effort has become known as the Barcode of Life Project.

The Freshman Honors Sections of Bio 175 University Experience are participating in this international effort by collecting, identifying, and sequencing genes from insects and other arthropods at the Upper Green River Biological Preserve in Hart County, Kentucky.

To complete the project, each WKU Bio 175 Honors student must:

• Collect an Arthropod specimen
• Mount and Identify the specimen
• Isolate DNA from the specimen
• Amplify a portion of the Cytochrome Oxidase I gene from the insect by PCR
• Sequence that portion of the gene
• Analyze the data
• Enter the data into the WKU Barcode of Life Database

WKU Biology Upper Green River Barcode of Life Project Participants:

• Jeffrey M. Marcus - Link
• Samantha McIntyre - Link
• Brandon K. Logan - Link
• Devin Bell - Link
• Patrick F. Jenkins, III - Link
• Roger W. Gregory - Link
• Jason R. Hall - Link
• Brittney N. Potts - Link
• Nicole Long - Link
• Katherine Nicole Slinker - Link
• Candace Read - Link
• Brooke Faulkner - Link
• Nicole Long - Link
• Beth Hudson - Link
• Mollie E. Carter - Link
• Ashley N. Bryant - Link
• Lindsey N. Houchin - Link
• Allyson N. Nehus - Link
• Thomas J. Cataldo - Link
• Chase Thompson - Link
• Jessica M. Jordan - Link
• Justin K. Mobley - Link
• Heather E. Compton - Link
• Emily Burden - Link
• Khrystin Clark - Link
• Linze S. DeJarnette - Link

• Dr. Jeffery Marcus is an Assistant Professor in the WKU Dept. of Biology.
• Dr. Doug McElroy is a Professor in the WKU Dept. of Biology.

View the organisms currently in the WKU Bio 175 Barcode of Life database.

The WKU Upper Green River Biological Preserve comprises 671 acres of land located on both banks of the Green River in Hart County, Kentucky, about 2 miles upriver of Mammoth Cave National Park. Acquisition and initial management funding for the Preserve was provided by the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund. Land purchase was completed and the Preserve formally established early in 2004.

The mission of the WKU Upper Green River Biological Preserve is to foster knowledge and protection of this diverse region and our natural heritage through research, education, and conservation. The habitats of the Preserve include bottomlands, uplands, barrens, caves, limestone glades, and of course, the river itself.

Projects currently underway at the Preserve include biological surveys of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, mussels, endangered species, plants, butterflies, and other insects. Other projects in place include restoration of riparian corridors, bottomland hardwood forest, native grasslands and barrens, control of streambank erosion, mitigation of oil well impacts, release of native rehabilitated predatory birds, and studies of woodrat and other mammal populations.

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