Thank you to everyone who has participated in this project. We have collected a total of 323 feathers samples from 38 different breeders, and we have good representation from most of the states. Unfortunately, we were unable to get any feathers from Tasmania or Northern Territory. The map below shows where the feathers have come from, where before the "/" indicates number of birds sampled, and after the "/" indicates the number of breeders that provided the samples. We are happy with what we have covered, and this will give us a good indication as to genetic diversity across Australia in captive Gouldian finches. In the lab...The next step in the project is to extract the DNA from these feathers. For each individual the calamus of the feather is cut off (the pointy bit that goes in the skin). Then the calamus is put into a special solution that breaks apart the cells and degrades the proteins to free the DNA. Then, proteins, lipids and other chemicals are removed from the solution. At the end of this process we are left with just the DNA of each individual in a tube. This is a more complicated version of the DNA extraction method that can be done at home (click here). After the process of DNA extraction is complete we then identify the genetic sequence of each individual.
This is done by choosing particular regions of the genome, and amplifying them using a process known as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). This utilises natural DNA replication machinery to amplify a particular region of the genome exponentially. Many many copies of a particular region allows us to better identify what that sequence is. When we know the sequences of all the individuals we can compare them, between individuals, breeders and regions which will inform our understanding of genetic diversity in the domesticated Gouldian finch
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