3.27.19 Preliminary Research

Rationale: Since Leo approved our preferred research question about repeats in NapoleonB, he encouraged us to begin finding information to answer our question. Therefore, we began looking for repeats in the genome of NapoleonB

Tools/Procedure:

Gepard dot plots and DNA Master.

I used the Gepard dot plot software updated with NapoleonB’s fasta file to begin to search for repeats within the genome. When a possible repeat was found, I used DNA Master’s scan feature to determine the quantity and location of the repeats in the genome.

Results:

Over the course of the lab hour, a few repeats were found to have relatively minor significance. There was one repeat of approximately 50 base pairs that showed two repeats, and other shorter repeats that were repeated a maximum of five times.

Conclusions:

Repeats are more difficult to find upon initial examination. A bigger challenge that was not as anticipated was a lack of immediate success with repeats. While I understood immediate success was unlikely, I had anticipated the process would involve weeding through many more significant repeats to find the most significant ones rather than weeding through many insignificant repeats to rare significant ones. With more time and effort, I think that we will eventually have more success – resilience!

Next Steps:

More time will be spent looking for and analyzing repeats.