Project description:<p>Integrative taxonomy is a fundamental part of biodiversity and combines traditional morphology with additional methods such as DNA sequencing or biochemistry. Here, we aim to establish untargeted metabolomics for use in chemotaxonomy. We used three thallose liverwort species <em>Riccia glauca</em>, <em>R. sorocarpa</em> and <em>R. warnstorfii</em> (order Marchantiales, Ricciaceae) with <em>Lunularia cruciata</em> (order Marchantiales, Lunulariacea) as an outgroup. Liquid chromatography high-resolution mass-spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-QTOF-MS) with data-dependent acquisition (DDA-MS) were integrated with DNA marker-based sequencing of the trnL-trnF region and high-resolution bioimaging. Our untargeted chemotaxonomy methodology enables us to distinguish taxa based on chemophenetic markers at different levels of complexity: (1) molecules, (2) compound classes, (3) compound superclasses and (4) molecular descriptors. For the investigated <em>Riccia</em> species, we identified 71 chemophenetic markers at the molecular level, a characteristic composition in 21 compound classes, and 21 molecular descriptors largely indicating electron state, presence of chemical motifs and hydrogen bonds. Our untargeted approach revealed many chemophenetic markers at different complexity levels that can provide more mechanistic insight into phylogenetic delimitation of species within a clade than genetic-based methods coupled with traditional morphology-based information. However, analytical and bioinformatics analysis methods still need to be better integrated to link the chemophenetic information at multiple scales.</p><p><br></p><p>To characterize, classify and name species, taxonomy is a fundamental part of biodiversity research. Integrative taxonomy combines traditional morphology-based methods with additional methods from different disciplines like sequencing. Bioinformatics analysis methods and research data are becoming increasingly important but greater integration is needed to link the information at multiple scales. Here, we present a reference dataset that investigates the principles of integrating metabolomics, sequencing, and phenotypic data into integrative taxonomy.</p>
Project description:First records of the non-indigenous green algal species Siphonocladus tropicus (Cladophorales, Chlorophyta) and Caulerpa integerrima (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta) in the Mediterranean Sea
| PRJEB49977 | ENA
Project description:Molecular Delimitation of Morphologically Cryptic Species in Globetrotting Nylanderia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Species Complexes
Project description:The evolutionary relationships among extinct African hominin species are highly debated and largely unresolved, due in part to a lack of molecular data. Even within taxa, it is not always clear, based on morphology alone, whether ranges of variation are due to sexual dimorphism versus potentially undescribed taxonomic diversity. For Paranthropus robustus, a Pleistocene hominin found only in South Africa, both phylogenetic relationships to other taxa, and the nature of intraspecific variation are still debated. Here we report the first successful mass spectrometric sequencing of enamel proteomes from four ca. 2 million years old dental specimens morphologically identified as P. robustus from the site of Swartkrans.
2025-06-09 | PXD040221 | Pride
Project description:Rediscovery of a forgotten Mediterranean Chaetomorpha species in the Venice Lagoon (North Adriatic Sea): Chaetomorpha stricta Schiffner (Cladophorales, Chlorophyta)
| PRJEB21591 | ENA
Project description:Species delimitation in the leopard frog species complex
