Towards high–throughput analyses of fecal samples from wildlife

• Published in: Animal Biodiversity and Conservation
• Main Authors: Sarabia, C., Salado, I., Cornellas, Anna, Fernández-Gil, Alberto, Vilà, Carles, Leonard, Jennifer A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Museo de Ciencias Naturales (Barcelona) 2020
• Subjects: Libertad; Canis lupus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/217728; https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2020.43.0271

Towards high–throughput analyses of fecal samples from wildlife. High–throughput sequencing offers new possibilities in molecular ecology and conservation studies. However, its potential has not yet become fully exploited for noninvasive studies of free–ranging animals, such as those based on feces. High–throughput sequencing allows sequencing of short DNA fragments and could allow simultaneous genotyping of a very large number of samples and markers at a low cost. The application of high throughput genotyping to fecal samples from wildlife has been hindered by several labor–intensive steps. We evaluate alternative protocols which could allow higher throughput for two of these steps: sample collection and DNA extraction. Two different field sampling and seven different DNA extraction methods are tested here on grey wolf (Canis lupus) feces. There was high variation in genotyping success rates. The field sampling method based on surface swabbing performed much worse than the extraction from a fecal fragment. In addition, there is a lot of room for improvement in the DNA extraction step. Optimization of protocols can lead to very much more efficient, cheaper and higher throughput noninvasive monitoring. Selection of appropriate markers is still of paramount importance to increase genotyping success. Hacia análisis genéticos de alto rendimiento de muestras fecales de fauna silvestre. La secuenciación de alto rendimiento ofrece nuevas posibilidades en ecología molecular y biología de la conservación. Sin embargo, el potencial de esta técnica no ha sido totalmente explotado para estudios no invasivos, a partir de muestras fecales, de fauna en libertad. La secuenciación de alto rendimiento permite la secuenciación de fragmentos de ADN cortos y podría permitir el genotipado simultáneo de un gran número de muestras y marcadores a un bajo coste. La aplicación de estas técnicas a muestras fecales de fauna silvestre ha sido obstaculizada por la gran cantidad de trabajo requerido en varios pasos, desde la recolección de ...