Research Training Program

Nataly Ivanova
Moscow State University
Moscow, RUSSIA

Paula DePriest, Ph.D.
Project Advisor
Department of Botany

"The RTP is a very important program which helps students find or realize spheres of interest."

Under Thin Ice: Extracting DNA from Glacial Umbilicate Lichens

Glaciers are the big ice masses that completely cover some areas near the north and south poles. For example, Greenland, near the north pole, is almost covered by ice and only the coast areas are accessible for living organisms. However, the glaciers may change over time, covering and uncovering more land. Climatic changes lead to the change of the ice level of the glaciers. When they expand they cover existing vegetation and can preserve it in a frozen state for a long time.

Umbilicate lichens were collected by an expedition to the base of a receding glacier Qaanaaq in Greenland. Vagn Alstrup, University of Copenhagen, collected a group of 10 thalli attached to ice-covered rock. Presumably, these samples were covered by ice for 1350 years (pers. comm.). Since DNA has been amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from 120 year old fungal specimens this project attempted to amplify the DNA of these glacier lichens. DNA characters from the glacier lichens can be used in evolution studies to compare these glacier lichen with existing populations from the same area.

This research was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Program.