Heat Shock Proteins and Invasive Potential of Lepomis macrochirus (Bluegill Sunfish). Lepomis macrochirus

A relatively high number of genes encoding heat shock proteins have been found in several invasive species. In this project we generate the Bluegill sunfish transcriptome and derive the number of genes for heat shock proteins. This number will be compared to the number of heat shock genes possessed by other species, including the closely related, but non invasive, Redear sunfish. Through comparison, our goal is to determine if the number of genes possessed by the bluegill sunfish is relatively high and potentially related to the fish's strong invasive history and large thermal range.