Hana Kucera has always had an interest in science. Kucera credits her scientific fascination to her parents who first introduced her to the observation, exploration and study of living things in their natural habitats. She graduated from British Columbia’s Simon Fraser University in 2004 with a B.Sc. in Biology. As a Master’s student at the University of New Brunswick in the fall of 2004, Kucera began her research in Dr. Gary Saunders’ lab studying the diversity of marine intertidal seaweeds of Canada using variation in DNA barcode sequences. Kucera subsequently transferred to the PhD program, where she is currently finishing the “last bits of lab work” to complete her PhD.

Seaweed studies in Saunders’ Lab require the researchers to spend three to four weeks of the summer collecting seaweeds from various parts of Canada. Kucera usually collects samples in her native British Columbia traveling around Vancouver Island. The researchers have not only traveled extensively throughout the east and west coasts of Canada, lab members have also traveled to subarctic Churchill Manitoba, located on the Hudson Bay of Canada. Seaweed collection in the subarctic is particularly interesting, according to Kucera, because it allows researchers to hypothesize about species distribution. When a species is found in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, it is possible that the species crossed over via the Arctic. Additionally, the Arctic is an extreme environment for seaweed to grow, as ice scours rocks thereby providing difficult conditions for seaweed growth.

DNA barcoding has been the primary focus of the lab for the past five years. Kucera explains that there are three general groups of seaweeds – reds, greens, and browns and each type of seaweed requires a specific method for DNA extraction. While red and green seaweeds have a fairly straightforward method of DNA extraction, brown seaweed tends to have a lot of polysaccharides and other PCR inhibiting compounds that need to be removed separately, adding an extra step in its DNA extraction. After extracting DNA from the seaweed, researchers perform a straightforward PCR amplification of DNA barcode markers as well as other markers being studied in the lab. All sequencing is done on the premises, as Saunders’ lab has an in-house sequencer.

Saunders’ lab has been using molecular techniques like DNA sequencing and barcoding since it became available. In fact, Hana’s supervisor, Dr. Gary Saunders, was one of the first researchers who began to do seaweed taxonomy based on DNA sequence comparisons. Prior to DNA barcoding, seaweed taxonomy traditionally was based on morphological and anatomical characteristics of the plant. Seaweed morphology focuses on studying the general shape, color and other characteristics of the each blade visible to the naked eye. For example, a branch seaweed would have its branching pattern studied. Analyzing the seaweed’s anatomical characteristics requires the examination of internal structures, both vegetative and reproductive.

Dr. Saunders, who has been working in traditional seaweed taxonomy over the past few years, is an expert in both morphological and anatomical differences between species. “…DNA barcoding allows [Dr. Saunders] to rapidly screen hundreds and hundreds of collections and arrange them into the groups based on similarities in their DNA sequences. He then examines these ‘genetic species groups’ for morphological or anatomical characteristics unique to each group,” Kucera explains, “Whereas, if he were to visually inspect each specimen, he might not be able to detect subtle differences between specimens indicating new species or it would it would be too time consuming to sift through thousands of collections hoping to discover new species… This DNA barcoding system provides a rapid screen that gives you the first hint of where to look for new species.”

Hana had her first paper titled, “Assigning morphological variants of Fucus (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) in Canadian waters to recognized species using DNA barcoding,” published in 2008. Fucus are notoriously difficult to identify to species using morphological assessments, making them ideal test subjects for DNA barcoding. Hers was the first study that established that DNA barcoding works as well as any other molecular marker currently used to distinguish species of Fucus.

After completing her PhD, Kucera hopes to return to British Columbia, and seek a lecturer position. While, she enjoys research, Kucera prefers teaching and describes her ideal situation as being a senior lecturer at a university with outdoor education for students.

“Teaching,” Kucera explains, “provides me with rewards that are much more frequent than in research. With research you can work hard in the lab for months and then get a result that is exciting, but after that much time, some of the excitement may have worn off… Seeing the ‘light go on’ in a students mind when they understand a concept, that happens every day and it is rewarding to see students get excited about something new that they’ve learned.”

“I like science in a general sense and whenever you do research as a grad student you become this specialist in one area. However, as a teacher you have to draw from many different fields, bringing together various ideas into a more general concept. I like sharing this excitement for all different kinds of scientific ideas.”

• Find out more about The Saunders Lab

• Follow Hana’s Blog: Teach Me Science

• Follow Hana on Twitter: @teachmescience

• Read Hana’s 2008 Publication: DNA barcoding Botany, 86 (9), 1065-1079 DOI: 10.1139/B08-056

Our weekly compilation of science news for the week of July 12, 2009.

Active genes discovered in the developing mammal brain: New information about the genes involved in a mammal’s early brain development, including those that contribute to neurological disorders such as autism and mental retardation, has been discovered in a research study led by Penn State biologists. The study is the first to use high-throughput sequencing to uncover active genes in developing brains, and it may be the best evidence yet for the activity in the brain of a large number of genes.

Arizona researchers to sequence West African rice strain: A $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow University of Arizona researchers to unlock the genetic code of West African cultivated rice.

Ben-Gurion University researchers identify how stressed fat tissue malfunctions: Fat tissue dysfunction is caused by obesity-induced fat tissue stress: Cells over-grow as they store fat which may cause decreased oxygen delivery into the tissue; individual cells may die (at least in mouse models), and fat tissue inflammation ensues. The BGU teams collected fat tissue samples from people undergoing abdominal surgery and identified a signaling pathway that is operational in intra-abdominal fat, the fat depot that is most strongly tied to obesity-related morbidity.

To read the study:

Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 94 (7), 2507-2515 DOI: 10.1210/jc.2009-0002

British girl’s heart heals itself after transplant: British doctors designed a radical solution to save a girl with major heart problems in 1995: they implanted a donor heart directly onto her own failing heart.

To read the study:

Tsang, V., Yacoub, M., Sridharan, S., Burch, M., Radley-Smith, R., Khaghani, A., Savoldo, B., & Amrolia, P. (2009). Late donor cardiectomy after paediatric heterotopic cardiac transplantation The Lancet DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61201-0

Building memories with actin: Memories aren’t made of actin filaments. But their assembly is crucial for long-term potentiation (LTP), an increase in synapse sensitivity that researchers think helps to lay down memories. Rex et al. reveal that LTP’s actin reorganization occurs in two stages that are controlled by different pathways, a discovery that helps explain why it is easy to encode new memories but hard to hold onto them.

To read the study:

Rex, C., Chen, L., Sharma, A., Liu, J., Babayan, A., Gall, C., & Lynch, G. (2009). Different Rho GTPase-dependent signaling pathways initiate sequential steps in the consolidation of long-term potentiation The Journal of Cell Biology, 186 (1), 85-97 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.200901084

Erosion, on the down low: For the first time, scientists have observed how the tiny fungi that live on plant roots begin to break down rocks. The researchers watched fungi disrupt the crystal structure of a common mineral in rocks, physically eroding the rock and also setting the stage for chemical breakdown.

To read the study: