a recent issue of Spadework - Cardiganshire Horticultural Society

PLANT DNA & THE MYSTERIES OF BEE BEHAVIOUR
LECTURE by PROF. MIKE WILKINSON on 11 JANUARY
When I decided to take on the writing up of this lecture I didn’t
expect it to be easy, and it wasn’t. I’m not a scientist but I am
interested in science, and Professor Mike Wilkinson of the Institute
of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences here at
Aberystwyth delivered to us a well-pitched lecture. Mike presented
us with a series of maps, graphs and illustrations of the historical,
current and projected effects of humans on the global environment,
and suggested that a better understanding of plant resources was a
key to survival, especially when faced with global warming and
human population growth.
The challenges future generations will or may encounter led us
into the research he and others are involved with, that of plant
DNA barcoding. Animal barcoding has been in use for a decade,
but plants proved far more difficult. (Unlike the animal/human
population, plants sometimes pollinate themselves.) Mike informed
us on the difficulties of which part of the plant material to use for
DNA barcoding, Eventually it was found that by sequencing genes
from two areas of plant DNA, individual species could be
identified, and progress could be made. Mike showed a case study
for the prediction of changes to the pollinator service of
ecosystems for human benefits on selected areas of grassland here
in Ceredigion. The study, ‘Pollinator Service in the Wild’,
monitored three ‘rhos’ pastures to try to determine which of their
wild flowers are visited by which bumble bees. The bees presented
their own set of challenges for the scientists. How to identify
individuals and how to observe their movements was something
that you could not do visually. The use of dyes, radio microscopes
or radio tagging were all either inappropriate or vastly expensive.
Genetic analysis became the solution, enabling the scientists to
determine which type and gender of bee harvested which plant
pollen and when.
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