RuBisCo Gene Diversity in Cyanobacteria of Lake Menomin Background & Purpose Lake Menomin (Menomonie, WI, Fig. 1) has high phosphorous levels and experiences blooms of cyanobacteria that adversely affect the health of the freshwater ecosystem (Fig. 2). Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBisCO) is a key protein in the carbon fixation pathway of cyanobacteria. The diversity of this gene was analyzed in Lake Menomin to determine targets for population control. Lauren Bryans Supervised by Dr. Stephen Nold Methods Collect Water Column Samples Amplify RuBisCO gene using the PCR Isolate Genomic DNA http://www.all-wisconsin-fishing.com/menomin-dunn.gif Determine Closest Relatives in GenBank (Table 1) Compile and analyze sequences in BioEdit (Fig. 3) Clone, and purify DNA, obtain sequence Data Figure 4: Amino Acid neighbor joining phylogenetic tree. Our data indicate that the diversity of cyanobacteria in L. Menomin is low. Figure 1: Lake Menomin Assemble phylogenetic trees (Figs. 4, 5) http://tmlia.blogspot.com/2009/08/fact-finding-meeting-toxic-blue-green.html Results Figure 5: DNA Distance Matrix Tree. The tree indicates that the diversity of cyanobacteria is low in L. Menomin. Conclusion Phylogenies indicated that our sequences were closely related to Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Microcystis aeruginosa (Figs. 4,5). The diversity of cyanobacterial RuBisCO genes is low in Lake Menomin, suggesting fewer targets for efforts designed to control populations of these nuisance organisms. Source Distribution of RuBisCO Genotypes along a Redox Gradient in Mono Lake, California Bruno J. Giri, Nasreen Bano, and James T. Hollibaugh Appl Environ Microbiol. 2004 June; 70(6): 3443–3448.  Figure 2: Cyanobacterial bloom issue in Lake Menomin Figure 3: Raw RuBisCO sequence data compiled in BioEdit Table 1: Table of the closest relatives of our sequences based on GenBank data.