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Analysing diet of small herbivores: the efficiency of DNA barcoding coupled with high-throughput pyrosequencing for deciphering the composition of complex plant mixtures.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:In order to understand the role of herbivores in trophic webs, it is essential to know what they feed on. Diet analysis is, however, a challenge in many small herbivores with a secretive life style. In this paper, we compare novel (high-throughput pyrosequencing) DNA barcoding technology for plant mixture with traditional microhistological method. We analysed stomach contents of two ecologically important subarctic vole species, Microtus oeconomus and Myodes rufocanus, with the two methods. DNA barcoding was conducted using the P6-loop of the chloroplast trnL (UAA) intron. RESULTS:Although the identified plant taxa in the diets matched relatively well between the two methods, DNA barcoding gave by far taxonomically more detailed results. Quantitative comparison of results was difficult, mainly due to low taxonomic resolution of the microhistological method, which also in part explained discrepancies between the methods. Other discrepancies were likely due to biases mostly in the microhistological analysis. CONCLUSION:We conclude that DNA barcoding opens up for new possibilities in the study of plant-herbivore interactions, giving a detailed and relatively unbiased picture of food utilization of herbivores.

SUBMITTER: Soininen EM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2736939 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Analysing diet of small herbivores: the efficiency of DNA barcoding coupled with high-throughput pyrosequencing for deciphering the composition of complex plant mixtures.

Soininen Eeva M EM Valentini Alice A Coissac Eric E Miquel Christian C Gielly Ludovic L Brochmann Christian C Brysting Anne K AK Sønstebø Jørn H JH Ims Rolf A RA Yoccoz Nigel G NG Taberlet Pierre P

Frontiers in zoology 20090820

<h4>Background</h4>In order to understand the role of herbivores in trophic webs, it is essential to know what they feed on. Diet analysis is, however, a challenge in many small herbivores with a secretive life style. In this paper, we compare novel (high-throughput pyrosequencing) DNA barcoding technology for plant mixture with traditional microhistological method. We analysed stomach contents of two ecologically important subarctic vole species, Microtus oeconomus and Myodes rufocanus, with th ...[more]

PMID: 19695081

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Project description:UnlabelledHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence is an important measure for monitoring the epidemic and evaluating the efficacy of intervention and prevention trials. This study developed a high-throughput, single-measure incidence assay by implementing a pyrosequencing platform. We devised a signal-masking bioinformatics pipeline, which yielded a process error rate of 5.8 × 10(-4) per base. The pipeline was then applied to analyze 18,434 envelope gene segments (HXB2 7212 to 7601) obtained from 12 incident and 24 chronic patients who had documented HIV-negative and/or -positive tests. The pyrosequencing data were cross-checked by using the single-genome-amplification (SGA) method to independently obtain 302 sequences from 13 patients. Using two genomic biomarkers that probe for the presence of similar sequences, the pyrosequencing platform correctly classified all 12 incident subjects (100% sensitivity) and 23 of 24 chronic subjects (96% specificity). One misclassified subject's chronic infection was correctly classified by conducting the same analysis with SGA data. The biomarkers were statistically associated across the two platforms, suggesting the assay's reproducibility and robustness. Sampling simulations showed that the biomarkers were tolerant of sequencing errors and template resampling, two factors most likely to affect the accuracy of pyrosequencing results. We observed comparable biomarker scores between AIDS and non-AIDS chronic patients (multivariate analysis of variance [MANOVA], P = 0.12), indicating that the stage of HIV disease itself does not affect the classification scheme. The high-throughput genomic HIV incidence marks a significant step toward determining incidence from a single measure in cross-sectional surveys.ImportanceAnnual HIV incidence, the number of newly infected individuals within a year, is the key measure of monitoring the epidemic's rise and decline. Developing reliable assays differentiating recent from chronic infections has been a long-standing quest in the HIV community. Over the past 15 years, these assays have traditionally measured various HIV-specific antibodies, but recent technological advancements have expanded the diversity of proposed accurate, user-friendly, and financially viable tools. Here we designed a high-throughput genomic HIV incidence assay based on the signature imprinted in the HIV gene sequence population. By combining next-generation sequencing techniques with bioinformatics analysis, we demonstrated that genomic fingerprints are capable of distinguishing recently infected patients from chronically infected patients with high precision. Our high-throughput platform is expected to allow us to process many patients' samples from a single experiment, permitting the assay to be cost-effective for routine surveillance.

Dataset Information

Analysing diet of small herbivores: the efficiency of DNA barcoding coupled with high-throughput pyrosequencing for deciphering the composition of complex plant mixtures.

Publications

Analysing diet of small herbivores: the efficiency of DNA barcoding coupled with high-throughput pyrosequencing for deciphering the composition of complex plant mixtures.

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