Nuclear eDNA estimates population allele frequencies and abundance in experimental mesocosms and field samples.

ABSTRACT: Advances in environmental DNA (eDNA) methodologies have led to improvements in the ability to detect species and communities in aquatic environments, yet the majority of studies emphasize biological diversity at the species level by targeting variable sites within the mitochondrial genome. Here, we demonstrate that eDNA approaches also have the capacity to detect intraspecific diversity in the nuclear genome, allowing for assessments of population-level allele frequencies and estimates of the number of genetic contributors in an eDNA sample. Using a panel of microsatellite loci developed for the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), we tested the similarity between eDNA-based and individual tissue-based estimates of allele frequencies from experimental mesocosms and in a field-based trial.

SUBMITTER: Andres KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7898893 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature