Rank-based characterization of pollen assemblages collected by honey bees using a multi-locus metabarcoding approach.

ABSTRACT:

Premise of the study

Difficulties inherent in microscopic pollen identification have resulted in limited implementation for large-scale studies. Metabarcoding, a relatively novel approach, could make pollen analysis less onerous; however, improved understanding of the quantitative capacity of various plant metabarcode regions and primer sets is needed to ensure that such applications are accurate and precise.

Methods and results

We applied metabarcoding, targeting the ITS2, matK, and rbcL loci, to characterize six samples of pollen collected by honey bees, Apis mellifera. Additionally, samples were analyzed by light microscopy. We found significant rank-based associations between the relative abundance of pollen types within our samples as inferred by the two methods.

Con

SUBMITTER: Richardson RT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4651628 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature