SU students join training on fish DNA barcoding in UP Mindanao
Two students from the Silliman University (SU) Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences (IEMS) represented the university at a specialized training on Fish DNA Barcoding held on August 28–30, 2025, at the Coral Reef Resilience and Ecology Studies (CRREST) Laboratory of the University of the Philippines Mindanao in Davao City.
Jean Asuncion Utzurrum, a MS Marine Biology student, and Ma. Katrina Andrea Tupas, a BS Marine Biology student, were invited to take part in the three-day program that brought together researchers working on marine fish diversity requiring complementary DNA barcoding data. Both are conducting their theses on spotted maskrays (genus Neotrygon), stingrays commonly caught in Philippine fisheries.
Jean Asuncion Utzurrum, SU IEMS graduate student, primes samples prior to polymerase chain reaction under the supervision of Kevin L. Labrador.
The training featured topical lectures on molecular biology and DNA sequencing, alongside hands-on laboratory sessions on DNA extraction and polymerization using participants’ own research samples.
Utzurrum and Tupas’ contributions from their thesis work will help establish the true identity of spotted maskray species in the Philippines, which were previously grouped under the Neotrygon kuhlii species complex.
The program was led by visiting researcher Kevin L. Labrador of Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi (TAMUCC), who opened the event with the lecture “Illuminating Biodiversity through DNA Data.” Laboratory exercises followed, focusing on tissue and DNA extraction, primer preparation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), agarose gel electrophoresis, and post-laboratory DNA sequence alignment.
SU IEMS students (center) complete the training on fish DNA barcoding led by Kevin L. Labrador (left) of TAMUCC. They were joined by CHARMS Mindanao Project Leader Prof. Cleto L. Nañola Jr. (right).
Organized by the CRREST Laboratory, the training aimed to strengthen collaboration with institutions and benchmark methods in DNA barcoding as applied in marine fishes.
