Molecular Diet Analysis of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the Ross Sea Using Fecal DNA
The diet of Adélie penguins, Pygoscelis adeliae, is a useful indicator in understanding the ecological conditions of their habitats. The diets of Adélie penguins were studied using metabarcoding and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses of fecal DNA from seven habitats along the Ross Sea region. Using me...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2079-7737/11/2/182/ 2023-08-20T04:02:27+02:00 Molecular Diet Analysis of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the Ross Sea Using Fecal DNA Nazia Tabassum Ji-Hyun Lee Soo-Rin Lee Jong-U Kim Hyun Park Hyun-Woo Kim Jeong-Hoon Kim agris 2022-01-24 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020182 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology11020182 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Biology; Volume 11; Issue 2; Pages: 182 Pygoscelis adeliae Ross Sea NGS metabarcoding diet analysis Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020182 2023-08-01T03:56:10Z The diet of Adélie penguins, Pygoscelis adeliae, is a useful indicator in understanding the ecological conditions of their habitats. The diets of Adélie penguins were studied using metabarcoding and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses of fecal DNA from seven habitats along the Ross Sea region. Using metabarcoding analysis with dual universal primers (18Sv9 and miniFish), the overall diet composition and detailed information about piscine prey were clearly elucidated. It was found that two krill species (Euphausia superba and Euphausia crystallorophias) and notothenioid fish were the most abundant in the diets of Adélie penguins. Among the notothenioid prey, Pleuragramma antarctica (56.50%) and Pagothenia borchgrevinki (18.21%) were the two most abundant species. qPCR analysis showed a significant geographic difference in the composition of main prey. Penguins inhabiting outbound parts of the Ross Sea (Capes Adare (CA) and Duke of York Island (DY)) mainly preyed on E. superba, without any significant changes in prey composition. By contrast, those inhabiting the inbound parts of the Ross Sea (Edmonson Point (EP) and Inexpressible Island (II)) preyed on E. crystallorophias and notothenioid fish rather than E. superba. Compared with the outbound habitats, prey compositions for penguins inhabiting the inbound regions were significantly different year to year, which was presumably due to the food availability based on the annual environmental and meteorological conditions of the coastal region along with the inbound parts of the Ross Sea. Text Antarc* Antarctica Euphausia superba Inexpressible Island Pygoscelis adeliae Ross Sea MDPI Open Access Publishing Adare ENVELOPE(170.233,170.233,-71.283,-71.283) Duke of York Island ENVELOPE(170.067,170.067,-71.633,-71.633) Dy ENVELOPE(11.369,11.369,64.834,64.834) Edmonson Point ENVELOPE(165.133,165.133,-74.333,-74.333) Inexpressible Island ENVELOPE(163.650,163.650,-74.900,-74.900) Ross Sea York Island ENVELOPE(-130.428,-130.428,54.763,54.763) Biology 11 2 182 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
Pygoscelis adeliae Ross Sea NGS metabarcoding diet analysis |
spellingShingle |
Pygoscelis adeliae Ross Sea NGS metabarcoding diet analysis Nazia Tabassum Ji-Hyun Lee Soo-Rin Lee Jong-U Kim Hyun Park Hyun-Woo Kim Jeong-Hoon Kim Molecular Diet Analysis of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the Ross Sea Using Fecal DNA |
topic_facet |
Pygoscelis adeliae Ross Sea NGS metabarcoding diet analysis |
description |
The diet of Adélie penguins, Pygoscelis adeliae, is a useful indicator in understanding the ecological conditions of their habitats. The diets of Adélie penguins were studied using metabarcoding and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses of fecal DNA from seven habitats along the Ross Sea region. Using metabarcoding analysis with dual universal primers (18Sv9 and miniFish), the overall diet composition and detailed information about piscine prey were clearly elucidated. It was found that two krill species (Euphausia superba and Euphausia crystallorophias) and notothenioid fish were the most abundant in the diets of Adélie penguins. Among the notothenioid prey, Pleuragramma antarctica (56.50%) and Pagothenia borchgrevinki (18.21%) were the two most abundant species. qPCR analysis showed a significant geographic difference in the composition of main prey. Penguins inhabiting outbound parts of the Ross Sea (Capes Adare (CA) and Duke of York Island (DY)) mainly preyed on E. superba, without any significant changes in prey composition. By contrast, those inhabiting the inbound parts of the Ross Sea (Edmonson Point (EP) and Inexpressible Island (II)) preyed on E. crystallorophias and notothenioid fish rather than E. superba. Compared with the outbound habitats, prey compositions for penguins inhabiting the inbound regions were significantly different year to year, which was presumably due to the food availability based on the annual environmental and meteorological conditions of the coastal region along with the inbound parts of the Ross Sea. |
format |
Text |
author |
Nazia Tabassum Ji-Hyun Lee Soo-Rin Lee Jong-U Kim Hyun Park Hyun-Woo Kim Jeong-Hoon Kim |
author_facet |
Nazia Tabassum Ji-Hyun Lee Soo-Rin Lee Jong-U Kim Hyun Park Hyun-Woo Kim Jeong-Hoon Kim |
author_sort |
Nazia Tabassum |
title |
Molecular Diet Analysis of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the Ross Sea Using Fecal DNA |
title_short |
Molecular Diet Analysis of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the Ross Sea Using Fecal DNA |
title_full |
Molecular Diet Analysis of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the Ross Sea Using Fecal DNA |
title_fullStr |
Molecular Diet Analysis of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the Ross Sea Using Fecal DNA |
title_full_unstemmed |
Molecular Diet Analysis of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the Ross Sea Using Fecal DNA |
title_sort |
molecular diet analysis of adélie penguins (pygoscelis adeliae) in the ross sea using fecal dna |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020182 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(170.233,170.233,-71.283,-71.283) ENVELOPE(170.067,170.067,-71.633,-71.633) ENVELOPE(11.369,11.369,64.834,64.834) ENVELOPE(165.133,165.133,-74.333,-74.333) ENVELOPE(163.650,163.650,-74.900,-74.900) ENVELOPE(-130.428,-130.428,54.763,54.763) |
geographic |
Adare Duke of York Island Dy Edmonson Point Inexpressible Island Ross Sea York Island |
geographic_facet |
Adare Duke of York Island Dy Edmonson Point Inexpressible Island Ross Sea York Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Euphausia superba Inexpressible Island Pygoscelis adeliae Ross Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Euphausia superba Inexpressible Island Pygoscelis adeliae Ross Sea |
op_source |
Biology; Volume 11; Issue 2; Pages: 182 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology11020182 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020182 |
container_title |
Biology |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
182 |
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1774712897421705216 |