Introducing Community Ecology and Data Skills with the Bean Beetle Microbiome Project

 

Lawrence Blumer & Christopher Beck

Advances in Biology Laboratory Education, 2020, Volume 41

https://doi.org/10.37590/able.v41.art24

Abstract

In this study, gut microbiome data from bean beetles, Callosobruchus maculatus, are used to perform community ecology analyses. Two microbiome community datasets are available, one based on colony phenotypes of cultured bacteria, and a second based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing of cultured bacterial colonies. We provide step-by-step instructions with computer screen shots that guide students through large dataset manipulations using MS Excel and data analyses using Excel or RStudio software. Basic community ecology variables and indices may be readily calculated to describe and compare microbiomes from this model organism.

Keywords:  community ecology, bean beetle, microbiome, course-based undergraduate research experience

University of Ottawa (2019)