Comparison of environmental DNA detection methods and seasonal variation for aquatic insect communities

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K13858
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 22060:Environmental systems for civil engineering-related
• Research Institution: University of Yamanashi
• Principal Investigator: YAEGASHI Sakiko 山梨大学, 大学院総合研究部, 助教 (30756648)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 水生昆虫 / 環境DNA

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is released into the water by aquatic animals and is employed for biodiversity surveys in an aquatic environment. Especially, the eDNA barcoding method that combines amplicon analysis by high-throughput DNA sequencer and DNA barcoding is getting attention as a new and easy method for surveying aquatic organisms. Although this method has been developed for fish communities, there are a few studies on aquatic insects, which are indicator organisms for anthropogenic disturbance such as water pollution and flow control. In this study, I examined the methods of eDNA barcoding for aquatic insects and investigated their seasonal variation by eDNA barcoding.

Free Research Field

土木環境システム

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

環境DNAを利用した水圏生物調査は採水とDNA分析をもとに行われることから、従来型の調査手法と比べて低労力かつ素早い調査手法として注目されている。この手法は魚類では多く研究開発が行われているが、人為的な水圏環境改変の指標生物として利用される水生昆虫では研究が不足している。そこで本研究では、環境DNAの濃縮方法やPCR手法など、より効果的に水生昆虫群集調査を行うことができる環境DNAのバーコーディング手法を検討した。