Biases in bulk: DNA metabarcoding of marine communities and the methodology involved.

ABSTRACT: With the growing anthropogenic pressure on marine ecosystems, the need for efficient monitoring of biodiversity grows stronger. DNA metabarcoding of bulk samples is increasingly being implemented in ecosystem assessments and is more cost-efficient and less time-consuming than monitoring based on morphology. However, before raw sequences are obtained from bulk samples, a profound number of methodological choices must be made. Here, we critically review the recent methods used for metabarcoding of marine bulk samples (including benthic, plankton and diet samples) and indicate how potential biases can be introduced throughout sampling, preprocessing, DNA extraction, marker and primer selection, PCR amplification and sequencing. From a total of 64 studies evaluated, our recommendations for bes

SUBMITTER: van der Loos LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8359149 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature