From specimens to the tree-of-life: tackling tropical arthropod diversity
File(s)
Author(s)
Yeo, Darren
Type
Thesis
Abstract
After more than 250 years of trying, we still do not know the number of animal species on our planet. However, we do know that a large proportion of the unknown species are arthropods and live in the tropics. In this thesis, I explore new ways to utilize Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies for fast and large-scale species discovery. I first test the performance of mini-barcodes for distance-based species delimitation and compare the performance to tree-based species delimitation. After evaluating these techniques, I utilize NGS barcodes to demonstrate that they can be used to rapidly pre-sort specimens into putative species regardless of life history stage. I then use NGS barcodes to document that mangroves are home to a previously overlooked large and distinct insect fauna. Lastly, I evaluate three different techniques for obtaining mitochondrial genomes and nuclear sequences for building species-rich trees: mitochondrial metagenomics, multiplexed tagged amplicon sequencing and hybrid enrichment.
Version
Open Access
Date Issued
2018-08
Date Awarded
2018-12
Copyright Statement
Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial No Derivatives Licence
Advisor
Meier, Rudolf
Vogler, Alfried P.
Publisher Department
Life Sciences
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)