近日，来自我校10和11年级的10名“小小探险家”前往苏州湿地公园，踏上了“苏州蜻蜓目”的探索之旅。该项目是通过探索苏州及周边地区的湿地公园，研究这些公园里的豆娘和蜻蜓。

作为昆虫届的“酷儿”，蜻蜓目昆虫也是水质的一个独特的生态学指标，因为一来它们与水生生态系统有着密切的关系，二来它们属于相对容易观察和识别的物种。这个项目不仅让我们的学生有机会使用真正的科学家的工具来进行真正的科学研究，也让他们对当地环境的健康状况有了进一步了解。

研究从收集样本开始：学生们带着网兜探索了苏州湿地公园。蜻蜓和豆娘是一种领地性的生物，且特别喜水。因此，大家将搜索的重点放在湖泊、溪流和池塘附近。

苏州湿地公园

# 样本收集 #

在苏州湿地公园收集到的样本被带回了学校合成生物实验室，这里是我们获奖的SZ-SHD iGEM团队的“大本营”。在那里，学生们开始使用由我校专家老师开发的最新的二氧化硅提取技术进行DNA提取。学生们使用聚合酶链式反应选择性地扩增了线粒体基因组中细胞色素c亚单位1基因的648bp部分。这个基因片段可以用作“条形码”，使学生们能够识别该地区的每一种蜻蜓目昆虫，建立一个当地物种的条形码库。学生们还将使用生物信息学技术来分析序列，并研究物种之间的进化关系。这是一个非常有趣的研究项目，旨在帮助我们更好地理解苏州地区蜻蜓目昆虫的多样性和相对分布，我们甚至可能在此过程中发现一些新的物种！

@DHSZ

合成生物实验室

随着环境保护越来越重要，分子系统学的工作不仅影响科学界，而且影响着整个社会。尽管蜻蜓目昆虫在池塘上方滑行和飞翔时非常壮观，但它们有一半的时间生活在水中。正因为它们与水有着很深的联结，通过了解蜻蜓目昆虫活跃的时间和地点，我们可以进一步了解我们宝贵的水生环境，并为此作出贡献。感谢苏州湿地管理局的工作人员对我们的探索与创新提供莫大的支持。

On the 15th April, 2023 a group of 10 inquisitive year 10 and year 11 students from Dulwich International High School ventured to the Suzhou Wetlands Park, as the launch trip for the Odonata Suzhou project. This project investigates the wetland parks in and around Suzhou and in particular, studies the damselflies and dragonflies that call these parks home.

The insects, damselflies and dragonflies, belong to the insect order Odonata. When asked why they were interested in damselflies and dragonflies, one student replied that it is because “dragonflies are cool, and they can fly”.

In addition to being cool, Odonata species are also a unique ecological indicator for water quality because of their close relationship with aquatic ecosystems and the relative ease of observation and species-level identification. This project will not only give our students the opportunity to use the tools of real scientists to carry out real science, but they will contribute to our understanding of the health of our local environment.

The research began with the collection of samples: students explored the Suzhou Wetlands Park, armed with nets. Dragonflies and damselflies are territorial creatures, known to patrol their territories and are particularly drawn to bodies of water. The search was focused, therefore, near lakes, streams and ponds. 

Suzhou Wetlands Park

#Collecting samples#

Samples collected at Suzhou Wetlands Park were then brought back to the DHSZ synbio lab, the home of our award-winning SZ-SHD iGEM team. Once there, the students began the process of DNA extraction using the latest silica extraction technique, developed by our expert teachers. The students used the polymerase chain reaction to selectively amplify a 648 bp section of the cytochrome c subunit 1 gene from the mitochondrial genome.

This gene is ideal for barcoding because the rate that the gene sequence changes over time is slow enough that it’s likely to be identical in the same species, but fast enough that it’s different between species. This will enable our students to identify each species of Odonata in the area. Once the students confirmed successful amplification of the gene fragment, the sample was sent out for sequencing.

The students will create a library of barcodes for local species and will use bioinformatic techniques to analyze the sequences and examine the evolutionary relationships between the species. This is the first scientific research project that aims to systematically analyse the distribution of Odonata species in the Suzhou area. We will develop an understanding of the diversity and relative distribution of different species, and we may even discover a few new species along the way!

#  the process of DNA extraction #

@DHSZ 

synbio lab

As conservation becomes ever more politically important, molecular phylogenetic work impacts not only the scientific community, but society as a whole. As spectacular as Odonata species are as they skim and dart above ponds, they spend half of their lives living in the water itself. Odonata are deeply connected to the water and by understanding where Odonata are thriving and when, we can contribute to understanding of the health of our precious aquatic environments. We are grateful to the people of Suzhou Wetland Authority for their support for our innovative and important work.

文章转载自：【苏州工业园区德威联合书院】