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ARPHA Conference Abstracts :
Conference Abstract
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Sara Atienza Casas‡, Markus Majaneva‡,‡, Thomas Correll Jensen§, Marie Davey‡, Frode Fossøy‡, Knut Andreas Bækkelie§, Karl Øystein Gjelland|, Ann Kristin Schartau§, Torbjørn Ekrem¶|
Corresponding author: Sara Atienza Casas (sara.atienza@nina.no)
Received: 01 Mar 2021 | Published: 04 Mar 2021
© 2021 Sara Atienza Casas, Markus Majaneva, Thomas Jensen, Marie Davey, Frode Fossøy, Knut Bækkelie, Karl Øystein Gjelland, Ann Schartau, Torbjørn Ekrem
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Atienza Casas S, Majaneva M, Jensen TC, Davey M, Fossøy F, Bækkelie KA, Gjelland KØ, Schartau AK, Ekrem T (2021) The use of eDNA and DNA metabarcoding in monitoring the ecological condition of Norwegian lakes. ARPHA Conference Abstracts 4: e65309. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.4.e65309
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Abstract
Biodiversity assessments using molecular identification of organisms through high-throughput sequencing techniques have been a game changer in ecosystem monitoring, providing increased taxonomic resolution, more objective identifications, potential cost reductions, and reduced processing times. The use of DNA metabarcoding of bulk samples and environmental DNA (eDNA) is now widespread but is not yet universally implemented in national monitoring programs. While bulk sample metabarcoding involves extraction of DNA from organisms in a sample, eDNA analysis involves obtaining DNA directly from environmental samples, which can include microorganisms, meiofauna-size taxa and macrofauna traces such as larval stages, skin and hair cells, gametes, faeces and free DNA bound to particles.
In Norway, freshwater biomonitoring in compliance with the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is conducted on several administrative levels, including national monitoring programs for running water, small and large lakes. These programs typically focus on a fraction of the actual biodiversity present in the monitored habitats (
The aim of this PhD project is to develop assessment protocols based on DNA-metabarcoding and eDNA of benthic invertebrates, microcrustaceans and fish that can be used as standard biomonitoring tools to assess the ecological condition of lakes. The main topics addressed will be:
- Development of protocols throughout the eDNA-metabarcoding workflow (i.e. sampling, filtration, preservation, extraction, amplification and sequencing) suitable to execute biodiversity assessments and determine the ecological status of lakes.
- Comparison of the results obtained using molecular tools and traditional morphology-based approaches in order to assess the feasibility of such techniques to be incorporated as standard biomonitoring tools, such as the ones implemented under the provisions of the WFD.
- Evaluate the effect of improved taxonomic resolution from molecular techniques on determining the ecological status of lakes, both by broadening the number of taxa analyzed and by identifying more taxa to species level.
- Assess the feasibility of using eDNA extracted from water samples, taken at different depths and fish densities, to measure fish abundance/biomass as a proxy to calculate the ecological quality indices regulated in the WFD.
- Analyze the coverage and resolution provided by reference libraries for certain taxa, such as crustacea, in order to assess the reliability and precision of taxonomic assignments.
Keywords
eDNA / DNA Metabarcoding / Freshwater Biomonitoring
Presenting author
Sara Atienza Casas
Presented at
1st DNAQUA International Conference (March 9-11, 2021)
References
- DNA barcode reference libraries for the monitoring of aquatic biota in Europe: Gap-analysis and recommendations for future work.Science of the Total Environment15(678):499‑524.