A pipeline for metabarcoding and diet analysis from fecal samples developed for a small semi-aquatic mammal.

ABSTRACT: Metabarcoding allows the genetic analysis of pooled samples of various sources. It is becoming popular in the study of animal diet, especially because it allows the analysis of the composition of feces without the need of handling animals. In this work, we studied the diet of the Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus), a small semi-aquatic mammal endemic to the Iberian Peninsula and the Pyrenees, by sequencing COI minibarcodes from feces using next-generation sequencing techniques. For the identification of assembled sequences, we employed a tree-based identification method that used a reference tree of sequences of freshwater organisms. The comparison of freshly collected fecal samples and older samples showed that fresh samples produced significantly more sequencing reads. They also render

SUBMITTER: Hawlitschek O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6091967 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature