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Zanovello L, Girardi M, Marchesini A, Galla G, Casari S, Micheletti D, Endrizzi S, Fedrigotti C, Pedrini P, Bertorelle G, Hauffe HC. A validated protocol for eDNA-based monitoring of within-species genetic diversity in a pond-breeding amphibian. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4346. [PMID: 36928612 PMCID: PMC10020426 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31410-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
In light of the dramatic decline in amphibian biodiversity, new cost-efficient tools to rapidly monitor species abundance and population genetic diversity in space and time are urgently needed. It has been amply demonstrated that the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) for single-species detection and characterization of community composition can increase the precision of amphibian monitoring compared to traditional (observational) approaches. However, it has been suggested that the efficiency and accuracy of the eDNA approach could be further improved by more timely sampling; in addition, the quality of genetic diversity data derived from the same DNA has been confirmed in other vertebrate taxa, but not amphibians. Given the availability of previous tissue-based genetic data, here we use the common frog Rana temporaria Linnaeus, 1758 as our target species and an improved eDNA protocol to: (i) investigate differences in species detection between three developmental stages in various freshwater environments; and (ii) study the diversity of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes detected in eDNA (water) samples, by amplifying a specific fragment of the COI gene (331 base pairs, bp) commonly used as a barcode. Our protocol proved to be a reliable tool for monitoring population genetic diversity of this species, and could be a valuable addition to amphibian conservation and wetland management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Zanovello
- Conservation Genomics Research Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, TN, Italy
- Conservation Biology Unit, MUSE - Science Museum Trento, Trento, Italy
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Matteo Girardi
- Conservation Genomics Research Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, TN, Italy
| | - Alexis Marchesini
- Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP), The National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy
| | - Giulio Galla
- Conservation Genomics Research Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, TN, Italy
| | - Stefano Casari
- Conservation Genomics Research Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, TN, Italy
| | - Diego Micheletti
- Computational Biology Research Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, TN, Italy
| | - Sonia Endrizzi
- Conservation Biology Unit, MUSE - Science Museum Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Chiara Fedrigotti
- Conservation Biology Unit, MUSE - Science Museum Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Paolo Pedrini
- Conservation Biology Unit, MUSE - Science Museum Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Giorgio Bertorelle
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Heidi Christine Hauffe
- Conservation Genomics Research Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, TN, Italy.
- National Biodiversity Future Center, S.c.a.r.l., Palermo, Italy.
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