Potential for DNA-based identification of Great Lakes fauna: match and mismatch between taxa inventories and DNA barcode libraries

DNA-based identification of mixed-organism samples offers the potential to greatly reduce the need for resource-intensive morphological identification, which would be of value both to bioassessment and non-native species monitoring. The ability to assign species identities to DNA sequences found dep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2015-07, Vol.5 (1), p.12162-12162, Article 12162
Main Authors: Trebitz, Anett S., Hoffman, Joel C., Grant, George W., Billehus, Tyler M., Pilgrim, Erik M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/670
704/158/2178
704/158/2459
704/158/2464
Animals
Aquatic animals
Aquatic fauna
Aquatic organisms
Data collection
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA barcoding
DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic
Humanities and Social Sciences
Identification
Indigenous species
Introduced species
Inventories
Invertebrates
Lakes
Mitochondrial DNA
Morphology
multidisciplinary
Nucleotide sequence
Reptiles
Reptiles & amphibians
Science
Species
Species Specificity
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Summary:DNA-based identification of mixed-organism samples offers the potential to greatly reduce the need for resource-intensive morphological identification, which would be of value both to bioassessment and non-native species monitoring. The ability to assign species identities to DNA sequences found depends on the availability of comprehensive DNA reference libraries. Here, we compile inventories for aquatic metazoans extant in or threatening to invade the Laurentian Great Lakes and examine the availability of reference mitochondrial COI DNA sequences (barcodes) in the Barcode of Life Data System for them. We found barcode libraries largely complete for extant and threatening-to-invade vertebrates (100% of reptile, 99% of fish and 92% of amphibian species had barcodes). In contrast, barcode libraries remain poorly developed for precisely those organisms where morphological identification is most challenging; 46% of extant invertebrates lacked reference barcodes with rates especially high among rotifers, oligochaetes and mites. Lack of species-level identification for many aquatic invertebrates also is a barrier to matching DNA sequences with physical specimens. Attaining the potential for DNA-based identification of mixed-organism samples covering the breadth of aquatic fauna requires a concerted effort to build supporting barcode libraries and voucher collections.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep12162