Unlocking Antarctic molecular time‐capsules – Recovering historical environmental DNA from museum‐preserved sponges
Abstract Marine sponges have recently emerged as efficient natural environmental DNA (eDNA) samplers. The ability of sponges to accumulate eDNA provides an exciting opportunity to reconstruct contemporary communities and ecosystems with high temporal and spatial precision. However, the use of histor...
Published in: | Molecular Ecology Resources |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.14001 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1755-0998.14001 |
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crwiley:10.1111/1755-0998.14001 2024-09-15T17:45:16+00:00 Unlocking Antarctic molecular time‐capsules – Recovering historical environmental DNA from museum‐preserved sponges Jeunen, Gert‐Jan Mills, Sadie Lamare, Miles Duffy, Grant A. Knapp, Michael Stanton, Jo‐Ann L. Mariani, Stefano Treece, Jackson Ferreira, Sara Durán‐Vinet, Benjamín Zavodna, Monika Gemmell, Neil J. Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Marsden Fund 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.14001 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1755-0998.14001 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Molecular Ecology Resources ISSN 1755-098X 1755-0998 journal-article 2024 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.14001 2024-07-30T04:21:27Z Abstract Marine sponges have recently emerged as efficient natural environmental DNA (eDNA) samplers. The ability of sponges to accumulate eDNA provides an exciting opportunity to reconstruct contemporary communities and ecosystems with high temporal and spatial precision. However, the use of historical eDNA, trapped within the vast number of specimens stored in scientific collections, opens up the opportunity to begin to reconstruct the communities and ecosystems of the past. Here, we define the term ‘heDNA’ to denote the historical environmental DNA that can be obtained from the recent past with high spatial and temporal accuracy. Using a variety of Antarctic sponge specimens stored in an extensive marine invertebrate collection, we were able to recover information on Antarctic fish biodiversity from specimens up to 20 years old. We successfully recovered 64 fish heDNA signals from 27 sponge specimens. Alpha diversity measures did not differ among preservation methods, but sponges stored frozen had a significantly different fish community composition compared to those stored dry or in ethanol. Our results show that we were consistently and reliably able to extract the heDNA trapped within marine sponge specimens, thereby enabling the reconstruction and investigation of communities and ecosystems of the recent past with a spatial and temporal resolution previously unattainable. Future research into heDNA extraction from other preservation methods, as well as the impact of specimen age and collection method, will strengthen and expand the opportunities for this novel resource to access new knowledge on ecological change during the last century. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Wiley Online Library Molecular Ecology Resources 24 7 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Marine sponges have recently emerged as efficient natural environmental DNA (eDNA) samplers. The ability of sponges to accumulate eDNA provides an exciting opportunity to reconstruct contemporary communities and ecosystems with high temporal and spatial precision. However, the use of historical eDNA, trapped within the vast number of specimens stored in scientific collections, opens up the opportunity to begin to reconstruct the communities and ecosystems of the past. Here, we define the term ‘heDNA’ to denote the historical environmental DNA that can be obtained from the recent past with high spatial and temporal accuracy. Using a variety of Antarctic sponge specimens stored in an extensive marine invertebrate collection, we were able to recover information on Antarctic fish biodiversity from specimens up to 20 years old. We successfully recovered 64 fish heDNA signals from 27 sponge specimens. Alpha diversity measures did not differ among preservation methods, but sponges stored frozen had a significantly different fish community composition compared to those stored dry or in ethanol. Our results show that we were consistently and reliably able to extract the heDNA trapped within marine sponge specimens, thereby enabling the reconstruction and investigation of communities and ecosystems of the recent past with a spatial and temporal resolution previously unattainable. Future research into heDNA extraction from other preservation methods, as well as the impact of specimen age and collection method, will strengthen and expand the opportunities for this novel resource to access new knowledge on ecological change during the last century. |
author2 |
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Marsden Fund |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jeunen, Gert‐Jan Mills, Sadie Lamare, Miles Duffy, Grant A. Knapp, Michael Stanton, Jo‐Ann L. Mariani, Stefano Treece, Jackson Ferreira, Sara Durán‐Vinet, Benjamín Zavodna, Monika Gemmell, Neil J. |
spellingShingle |
Jeunen, Gert‐Jan Mills, Sadie Lamare, Miles Duffy, Grant A. Knapp, Michael Stanton, Jo‐Ann L. Mariani, Stefano Treece, Jackson Ferreira, Sara Durán‐Vinet, Benjamín Zavodna, Monika Gemmell, Neil J. Unlocking Antarctic molecular time‐capsules – Recovering historical environmental DNA from museum‐preserved sponges |
author_facet |
Jeunen, Gert‐Jan Mills, Sadie Lamare, Miles Duffy, Grant A. Knapp, Michael Stanton, Jo‐Ann L. Mariani, Stefano Treece, Jackson Ferreira, Sara Durán‐Vinet, Benjamín Zavodna, Monika Gemmell, Neil J. |
author_sort |
Jeunen, Gert‐Jan |
title |
Unlocking Antarctic molecular time‐capsules – Recovering historical environmental DNA from museum‐preserved sponges |
title_short |
Unlocking Antarctic molecular time‐capsules – Recovering historical environmental DNA from museum‐preserved sponges |
title_full |
Unlocking Antarctic molecular time‐capsules – Recovering historical environmental DNA from museum‐preserved sponges |
title_fullStr |
Unlocking Antarctic molecular time‐capsules – Recovering historical environmental DNA from museum‐preserved sponges |
title_full_unstemmed |
Unlocking Antarctic molecular time‐capsules – Recovering historical environmental DNA from museum‐preserved sponges |
title_sort |
unlocking antarctic molecular time‐capsules – recovering historical environmental dna from museum‐preserved sponges |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.14001 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1755-0998.14001 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_source |
Molecular Ecology Resources ISSN 1755-098X 1755-0998 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.14001 |
container_title |
Molecular Ecology Resources |
container_volume |
24 |
container_issue |
7 |
_version_ |
1810493036003590144 |