TY - JOUR
T1 - BeeDNA
T2 - Microfluidic environmental DNA metabarcoding as a tool for connecting plant and pollinator communities
AU - Harper, Lynsey R.
AU - Niemiller, Matthew L.
AU - Benito, Joseph B.
AU - Paddock, Lauren E.
AU - Knittle, E.
AU - Molano-Flores, Brenda
AU - Davis, Mark A.
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program for funding this research (grant number RC19‐1102). We thank Patricia Dickerson for technical assistance. We are deeply grateful to Rosalie Metallo, Montgomery Flack, and Clinton Shipley at the UIUC Plant Care facility for the technical, logistical, and moral support of our research. We appreciate Dr. Mark R. Band, Dr. Alvaro G. Hernandez, Dr. Christy L. Wright, and the staff at the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center Functional Genomics Unit for technical support and conducting microfluidic metabarcoding. We thank Emily Curd for assistance with implementing Anacapa. We recognize Danielle Ruffatto, Tiffany Jolley, and Joe Spencer for imaging and design support. We thank Catherine Dana, Tara Hohoff, and Tommy McElrath for providing samples, as well as encouragement and creative criticism to improve this research. We thank Angella Moorehouse at the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission for supplying species lists used to develop the reference DNA sequence database.
Funding Information:
We are grateful to the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program for funding this research (grant number RC19-1102). We thank Patricia Dickerson for technical assistance. We are deeply grateful to Rosalie Metallo, Montgomery Flack, and Clinton Shipley at the UIUC Plant Care facility for the technical, logistical, and moral support of our research. We appreciate Dr. Mark R. Band, Dr. Alvaro G. Hernandez, Dr. Christy L. Wright, and the staff at the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center Functional Genomics Unit for technical support and conducting microfluidic metabarcoding. We thank Emily Curd for assistance with implementing Anacapa. We recognize Danielle Ruffatto, Tiffany Jolley, and Joe Spencer for imaging and design support. We thank Catherine Dana, Tara Hohoff, and Tommy McElrath for providing samples, as well as encouragement and creative criticism to improve this research. We thank Angella Moorehouse at the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission for supplying species lists used to develop the reference DNA sequence database.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Environmental DNA published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Pollinators are declining globally, and this loss can reduce plant reproduction, erode critical ecosystem services and resilience, and drive economic losses. Monitoring pollinator biodiversity trends is essential for adaptive conservation and management, but conventional surveys are often costly, time-consuming, and requires considerable taxonomic expertise. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding surveys are booming due to their rapidity, nondestructiveness, and cost efficiency. Microfluidic technology allows multiple primer sets from different markers to be used in eDNA metabarcoding for more comprehensive inventories, minimizing associated primer bias. We evaluated microfluidic eDNA metabarcoding for pollinator community monitoring in both controlled greenhouse and natural field settings. Using a variety of sampling, preservation, and extraction methods, we assessed pollinator communities with a number of markers using microfluidic metabarcoding. In greenhouse experiments, microfluidic eDNA metabarcoding detected the target bumblebee in two of four focal flower species as well as greenhouse insects in all focal flower species. In the field, numerous common regional arthropods, including some directly observed, were detected. Pollinator detection was maximized using whole flower heads preserved in ATL buffer and extracted with a modified Qiagen® DNeasy protocol for amplification with COI primers. eDNA surveillance could enhance pollinator assessment by detecting protected and endangered species and being more applicable to remote, inaccessible locations, whilst reducing survey time, effort, and expense. Microfluidic eDNA metabarcoding requires optimization to address remaining efficacy concerns, but this approach shows potential in revealing complex networks underpinning critical ecosystem functions and services, enabling more accurate assessments of ecosystem resilience.
AB - Pollinators are declining globally, and this loss can reduce plant reproduction, erode critical ecosystem services and resilience, and drive economic losses. Monitoring pollinator biodiversity trends is essential for adaptive conservation and management, but conventional surveys are often costly, time-consuming, and requires considerable taxonomic expertise. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding surveys are booming due to their rapidity, nondestructiveness, and cost efficiency. Microfluidic technology allows multiple primer sets from different markers to be used in eDNA metabarcoding for more comprehensive inventories, minimizing associated primer bias. We evaluated microfluidic eDNA metabarcoding for pollinator community monitoring in both controlled greenhouse and natural field settings. Using a variety of sampling, preservation, and extraction methods, we assessed pollinator communities with a number of markers using microfluidic metabarcoding. In greenhouse experiments, microfluidic eDNA metabarcoding detected the target bumblebee in two of four focal flower species as well as greenhouse insects in all focal flower species. In the field, numerous common regional arthropods, including some directly observed, were detected. Pollinator detection was maximized using whole flower heads preserved in ATL buffer and extracted with a modified Qiagen® DNeasy protocol for amplification with COI primers. eDNA surveillance could enhance pollinator assessment by detecting protected and endangered species and being more applicable to remote, inaccessible locations, whilst reducing survey time, effort, and expense. Microfluidic eDNA metabarcoding requires optimization to address remaining efficacy concerns, but this approach shows potential in revealing complex networks underpinning critical ecosystem functions and services, enabling more accurate assessments of ecosystem resilience.
KW - arthropods
KW - community ecology
KW - eDNA
KW - ecosystem assessment
KW - mutualistic interactions
KW - pollinators
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140054441&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85140054441&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/edn3.370
DO - 10.1002/edn3.370
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85140054441
JO - Environmental DNA
JF - Environmental DNA
SN - 2637-4943
ER -