The monitoring and management of aquatic ecosystems depend on precise estimates of biodiversity.Metabarcoding analyses of environmental nucleic acids(eNAs),including environmental DNA(eDNA)and environmental RNA(eRNA),...The monitoring and management of aquatic ecosystems depend on precise estimates of biodiversity.Metabarcoding analyses of environmental nucleic acids(eNAs),including environmental DNA(eDNA)and environmental RNA(eRNA),have garnered attention for their cost-effective and non-invasive biomonitoring capabilities.However,the accuracy of biodiversity estimates obtained through eNAs can vary among different organismal groups.Here we evaluate the performance of eDNA and eRNA metabarcoding across nine organismal groups,ranging from bacteria to terrestrial vertebrates,in three crosssections of the Yangtze River,China.We observe robust complementarity between eDNA and eRNA data.The relative detectability of eNAs was notably influenced by major taxonomic groups and organismal sizes,with eDNA providing more robust signals for larger organisms.Both eDNA and eRNA exhibited similar cross-sectional and longitudinal patterns.However,the detectability of larger organisms declined in eRNA metabarcoding,possibly due to differential RNA release and decay among different organismal groups or sizes.While underscoring the potential of eDNA and eRNA in large river biomonitoring,we emphasize the need for differential interpretation of eDNA versus eRNA data.This highlights the importance of careful method selection and interpretation in biomonitoring studies.展开更多
基金the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFC32021001,2021YFC3201003)support.X.Z.was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.F.A.was supported by the University of Zurich Research Priority Program“URPP Global Change and Biodiversity”.Y.Z.thanks the China Scholarship Council(CSC NO.202206190065)supporting the visit of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology(Eawag)and the University of Zurich.
文摘The monitoring and management of aquatic ecosystems depend on precise estimates of biodiversity.Metabarcoding analyses of environmental nucleic acids(eNAs),including environmental DNA(eDNA)and environmental RNA(eRNA),have garnered attention for their cost-effective and non-invasive biomonitoring capabilities.However,the accuracy of biodiversity estimates obtained through eNAs can vary among different organismal groups.Here we evaluate the performance of eDNA and eRNA metabarcoding across nine organismal groups,ranging from bacteria to terrestrial vertebrates,in three crosssections of the Yangtze River,China.We observe robust complementarity between eDNA and eRNA data.The relative detectability of eNAs was notably influenced by major taxonomic groups and organismal sizes,with eDNA providing more robust signals for larger organisms.Both eDNA and eRNA exhibited similar cross-sectional and longitudinal patterns.However,the detectability of larger organisms declined in eRNA metabarcoding,possibly due to differential RNA release and decay among different organismal groups or sizes.While underscoring the potential of eDNA and eRNA in large river biomonitoring,we emphasize the need for differential interpretation of eDNA versus eRNA data.This highlights the importance of careful method selection and interpretation in biomonitoring studies.
