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Moving DNA barcoding toward bioassessment application: roadmap of challenges and solutions
Citation:
Stein, E. D., P. Miller, B. Sweeney, AND E. PILGRIM. Moving DNA barcoding toward bioassessment application: roadmap of challenges and solutions. Presented at Society of Freshwater Science, Louisville, KY, May 20 - 24, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
The objective of this task is to develop molecular indicators to evaluate the integrity and sustainability of aquatic fish, invertebrate, and plant communities.
Description:
DNA barcoding holds promise for helping to address several challenges associated with taxonomic based bioassessments; these include the time and effort necessary to identify hundreds of specimens per sample location, incomplete or unavailable local taxonomy that limits the ability to identify specimens to their full taxonomic resolution, and few individuals with the expertise necessary to conduct specimen identification. We are beginning to address technical issues to determine the efficacy of DNA barcoding in the context of California's (USA) well established marine and freshwater monitoring and assessment programs. Technical challenges include developing appropriate field collection and preservation techniques, building libraries of local species, comparing DNA-based taxonomy to traditional morphology-based taxonomy in terms of resolution and ability to identify rare and cryptic species, and comparing the performance of environmental indices derived from DNA-based taxonomy to those derived from traditional methods. We will present results from recent pilot studies that explore these issues, identify remaining challenges and present a strategy for transitioning DNA barcoding into a routinely used tool for environmental bioassessment.