FROM DETECTING SINGLE PREY SPECIES TO METABARCODING A 900KM RIVER: A SHOWCASE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DNA RESEARCH BY ENVMETAGEN, PORTUGAL

FROM DETECTING SINGLE PREY SPECIES TO METABARCODING A 900KM RIVER: A SHOWCASE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DNA RESEARCH BY ENVMETAGEN, PORTUGAL

Bastian Egeter (CIBIO-InBIO, Portugal) | January 17, 2018 | University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

The goal of the EnvMetaGen project (http://inbio-envmetagen.pt/) is to expand the research and innovation potential of the InBIO Research network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, through the creation of an ERA Chair in Environmental Metagenomics. DNA metabarcoding is increasingly being used for biodiversity assessment, diet analysis, detection of rare or invasive species, population genetics and ecosystem functional analysis. This presentation will showcase a number of EnvMetaGen projects including: metabarcoding of bat diets to assess bat services as pest controllers; assessing the impacts of invasive rats on endemic frogs, conducting freshwater bioassessment for species conservation, surveying for aquatic vertebrates in Portugal, Azores and northern Africa; building reference DNA databases and; investigating the diet of numerous conservationally and economically important fauna such as voles, African wolves, cheetahs, mantids, birds, invasive crayfish and endangered geckos. The presentation will also include some general discussion on key points to be considered for the successful design of metabarcoding studies.