The use of metabarcoding for meiofauna ecological patterns assessment

Laiza Cabral de Faria; Maikon Di Domenico; Sónia C S Andrade; Monique Cristina Dos Santos; Gustavo Fonseca; Joana Zanol; A Cecilia Z Amaral

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.06.013

The use of metabarcoding for meiofauna ecological patterns assessment

Mar Environ Res. 2018 Sep:140:160-168. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.06.013. Epub 2018 Jun 14.

Authors

Laiza Cabral de Faria¹, Maikon Di Domenico², Sónia C S Andrade³, Monique Cristina Dos Santos⁴, Gustavo Fonseca⁵, Joana Zanol⁶, A Cecilia Z Amaral⁷

Affiliations

¹ Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Av. Beira-Mar, s/n, Pontal do Sul, PO Box 61, Pontal do Paraná, PR, Zip Code 83255-976, Brazil.
² Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Av. Beira-Mar, s/n, Pontal do Sul, PO Box 61, Pontal do Paraná, PR, Zip Code 83255-976, Brazil. Electronic address: didomenico@ufpr.br.
³ Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária, Rua do Matão 277, Zip Code 05508-090, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
⁴ Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Carlos Chagas Filho, 373 CCS, Bloco A, Sala A0-108, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-599, Brazil.
⁵ Instituto do Mar. Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Carvalho de Mendonça 144, Santos, SP, 11070-100, Brazil.
⁶ Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Carlos Chagas Filho, 373 CCS, Bloco A, Sala A0-108, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-599, Brazil; Campus Duque de Caxias, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Estr. de Xerém, 27, Duque de Caxias, RJ, Brazil.
⁷ Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Cidade Universitária, Rua Monteiro Lobato, 255, Campinas, SP, 13083-862, Brazil.

PMID: 29933903
DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.06.013

Abstract

Marine meiofauna comprises up to 22 phyla. Its morphological identification requires time and taxonomists' expertise, and molecular tools can make this task faster. We aim to disentangle meiofaunal diversity patterns at Araçá Bay by applying a model selection approach and estimating the effectiveness of metabarcoding (18S rDNA) and morphological methods for estimating the response of meiofauna diversity in small-scale interactions with environmental variables. A rarefaction curve indicated that ten samples were sufficient for estimating the total number of meiofauna OTUs in a tidal flat. In both approaches, richness was predicted by mean sand percentage, sediment sorting, and bacteria concentration. Nematode genera composition differed significantly between approaches, the result of taxonomic mismatch in the genetic database. The similarity between the model selected for diversity descriptors, the richness of nematode genera and meiofauna composition emphasized the utility of predictive models for metabarcoding estimates to detect small-scale interactions of these organisms.

Keywords: Araçá Bay; Benthic ecology; Coastal zone; Community composition; Sediments; São Sebastião channel.

MeSH terms

Animals
Aquatic Organisms / classification*
Biodiversity*
DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic
Ecology*
Invertebrates / classification*