Refining Zooplankton Diet Composition Studies Over Short and Long Time Scales by Combining 18S Metabarcoding With Fatty Acid Analyses.

ABSTRACT: Understanding diet composition is essential for unravelling trophic interactions in aquatic ecosystems. DNA metabarcoding, utilising various variable regions of the 18S rRNA gene, is increasingly employed to investigate zooplankton diet composition. However, accurate results depend on rapid inactivation of digestive enzymes and DNA nucleases through proper sample processing and preservation. In this study, we compare the prey communities of Antarctic krill retrieved from the 18S variable regions V4 and V7 and assess how different processing treatments affect the detected prey composition of both krill and salps. Our findings highlight the critical importance of prompt sample processing for species with highly efficient digestive enzymes, such as krill, to preserve rapidly digested prey, in

SUBMITTER: Pauli NC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12550472 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature