Week 7: A Change of Plans

I began the week with optimism that my Cerc5 primers would be usable for qPCR and that I could get some numerical results confirming it is located in just the Columbia River Estuary. This plan did not work out as my first qPCR run featured significant amounts of contamination in the no template control. This confirmed once and for all that my primers must be contaminated and that I needed to order a new batch. Until the new primers arrive I have begun working on quantifying the distribution of a new protist organism- euduboscquella. This is a continuation of the work of a previous intern that was unable to finish all she had planned. My qPCR runs with this batch of primers over the rest of the week were successful with no contamination and near perfect standard curves. The data I have collected so far suggests that this organism is found in low quantities in the estuary and is more adapted to the marine environment. Testing several sampling transects has shown it is located in higher abundances at distances further from the shore. This week has been my most productive after switching to this new project. I still plan on returning to Cerc5 next week as soon as the primers arrive.