TY - JOUR

T1 - Using eDNA to find Micrognathozoa

AU - Giribet, Gonzalo

AU - Wangensteen, Owen S.

AU - Garcés-Pastor, Sandra

AU - Møller, Peter Rask

AU - Worsaae, Katrine

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Over the past decades the sampling of environmental DNA (eDNA) — encompassing the DNA of all organisms present in an environmental sample1 — has emerged as a technique for biodiversity monitoring and discovery in a diversity of environments. Avoiding the physical collection and identification of biota, this approach is praised for its independence of taxonomic expertise and has changed the way biologists study biodiversity. However, a common result in eDNA studies is the finding of unexpected taxa which are often removed by conservative bioinformatic filters or disregarded, since the authors are uncertain about the result and rarely have the interest, time, skills, and/or resources to return to the field and confirm with actual specimens2. Here, we report a case in which an eDNA discovery led to the physical localization of a member of the Micrognathozoa (Figure 1B) — a rare group of limnic micrometazoans, and the animal phylum to be discovered last3, which is the sister group to rotifers4,5. To this day, Micrognathozoa still comprises only a single named species from Greenland and a few additional disparate places.

AB - Over the past decades the sampling of environmental DNA (eDNA) — encompassing the DNA of all organisms present in an environmental sample1 — has emerged as a technique for biodiversity monitoring and discovery in a diversity of environments. Avoiding the physical collection and identification of biota, this approach is praised for its independence of taxonomic expertise and has changed the way biologists study biodiversity. However, a common result in eDNA studies is the finding of unexpected taxa which are often removed by conservative bioinformatic filters or disregarded, since the authors are uncertain about the result and rarely have the interest, time, skills, and/or resources to return to the field and confirm with actual specimens2. Here, we report a case in which an eDNA discovery led to the physical localization of a member of the Micrognathozoa (Figure 1B) — a rare group of limnic micrometazoans, and the animal phylum to be discovered last3, which is the sister group to rotifers4,5. To this day, Micrognathozoa still comprises only a single named species from Greenland and a few additional disparate places.

U2 - 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.075

DO - 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.075

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37490858

AN - SCOPUS:85165629047

VL - 33

SP - R756-R757

JO - Current Biology

JF - Current Biology

SN - 0960-9822

IS - 14

ER -