Date of Award:

12-2019

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Biology

Committee Chair(s)

Paul Wolf

Committee

Paul Wolf

Committee

Keith Mott

Committee

Bruce Bugbee

Abstract

Plants contain organelles called chloroplasts, which is where photosynthesis takes place. Chloroplasts also contain their own DNA, which is separate from the DNA in the nucleus. This DNA does not change much over evolutionary time, so it can be used to investigate relationships between organisms. Here we created a tool that makes it easier to analyze this chloroplast DNA as well making it easier to share complete chloroplast genomes on public databases. In addition, we also found a mobile element in the chloroplast DNA of a group of ferns, which appears to be driving structural changes in their genomes.

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41c78c2a3fdd5549ea1ad8a67e42c033

Included in

Biology Commons

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