Building a custom reference library for subterranean groundwater fauna living in the ancient Pilbara (Western Australia) landscape
Dr Michelle Guzik1, Professor Steven Cooper, Professor Andy Austin, Professor William Humphreys, Mia Hillyer, Andrew Hosie, Dr Lisa Kirkendale, Dr Joel Huey, Dr Mieke van der Heyde, Dr Nicole White
1The University Of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Abstract:
There are high stakes in regulatory biodiversity assessments especially for those biological communities associated with mineral exploration and resource developments. For such assessments there is a clear need for accurate, fast and consistent species identification with new molecular methods potentially offering a significant alternative to traditional morphological approaches. Use of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding as a tool for detecting subterranean species inhabiting groundwater ecosystems associated with mineral deposits is quickly gaining momentum in the area of environmental impact assessment. However, in subterranean groundwater ecosystems, dark invertebrate taxa with ancient and genetically diverse evolutionary lineages dominate, making meaningful taxonomic assignment of eDNA metabarcoding Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU) extremely patchy. Therefore, a custom library of reference sequences is essential. Using one of the oldest hydrogeological environments on earth, Western Australia’s Pilbara region, as a case study we have collaborated with taxonomic specialists and industry partners to generate an extensive, verified taxonomic data set, to establish a custom reference library of sequences, which will be expanded over time to meet future needs. Here we present our current subterranean fauna reference library and demonstrate its effectiveness when we query it with eDNA metabarcoding OTU from Pilbara groundwater.
Biography:
Michelle is an evolutionary geneticist with over 15 years of practical scientific experience investigating groundwater dependent fauna and ecosystems. Australia’s groundwater reserves are one its most valuable resources and their appropriate management is of high national importance. Her research priorities have been to document biodiversity, and untangle evolutionary history, of groundwater dependent fauna and ecosystems to achieve practical conservation outcomes. This research has helped to overturn preconceived ideas of groundwater biodiversity, especially in Australia’s arid zone.