Debugging diversity – a pan-continental exploration of the potential of terrestrial blood-feeding leeches as a vertebrate monitoring tool

Ida Bærholm Schnell; Kristine Bohmann; Sebastian E. Schultze; Stine R. Richter; Dáithí C. Murray; Mikkel Holger S. Sinding; David Bass; John E. Cadle; Mason J. Campbell; Rainer Dolch; David P. Edwards; Thomas N.E. Gray; Teis Hansen; Anh Nguyen Quang Hoa; Christina Lehmkuhl Noer; Sigrid Heise-Pavlov; Adam F. Sander Pedersen; Juliot Carl Ramamonjisoa; Mark E. Siddall; Andrew Tilker; Carl Traeholt; Nicholas Wilkinson; Paul Woodcock; Douglas W. Yu; Mads Frost Bertelsen; Michael Bunce; M. Thomas P. Gilbert

doi:10.1111/1755-0998.12912

Debugging diversity – a pan-continental exploration of the potential of terrestrial blood-feeding leeches as a vertebrate monitoring tool

Ida Bærholm Schnell^*, Kristine Bohmann, Sebastian E. Schultze, Stine R. Richter, Dáithí C. Murray, Mikkel Holger S. Sinding, David Bass, John E. Cadle, Mason J. Campbell, Rainer Dolch, David P. Edwards, Thomas N.E. Gray, Teis Hansen, Anh Nguyen Quang Hoa, Christina Lehmkuhl Noer, Sigrid Heise-Pavlov, Adam F. Sander Pedersen, Juliot Carl Ramamonjisoa, Mark E. Siddall, Andrew TilkerCarl Traeholt, Nicholas Wilkinson, Paul Woodcock, Douglas W. Yu, Mads Frost Bertelsen, Michael Bunce, M. Thomas P. Gilbert

^*Corresponding author for this work

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) has become an applicable noninvasive tool with which to obtain information about biodiversity. A subdiscipline of eDNA is iDNA (invertebrate-derived DNA), where genetic material ingested by invertebrates is used to characterize the biodiversity of the species that served as hosts. While promising, these techniques are still in their infancy, as they have only been explored on limited numbers of samples from only a single or a few different locations. In this study, we investigate the suitability of iDNA extracted from more than 3,000 haematophagous terrestrial leeches as a tool for detecting a wide range of terrestrial vertebrates across five different geographical regions on three different continents. These regions cover almost the full geographical range of haematophagous terrestrial leeches, thus representing all parts of the world where this method might apply. We identify host taxa through metabarcoding coupled with high-throughput sequencing on Illumina and IonTorrent sequencing platforms to decrease economic costs and workload and thereby make the approach attractive for practitioners in conservation management. We identified hosts in four different taxonomic vertebrate classes: mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, belonging to at least 42 different taxonomic families. We find that vertebrate blood ingested by haematophagous terrestrial leeches throughout their distribution is a viable source of DNA with which to examine a wide range of vertebrates. Thus, this study provides encouraging support for the potential of haematophagous terrestrial leeches as a tool for detecting and monitoring terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity.

Original language	English
Journal	Molecular Ecology Resources
Volume	18
Issue number	6
Pages (from-to)	1282-1298
Number of pages	17
ISSN	1755-098X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12912
Publication status	Published - 2018

Keywords

high-throughput sequencing
iDNA
metabarcoding
terrestrial haematophagous leeches
vertebrate diversity
vertebrate monitoring

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1111/1755-0998.12912

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Schnell, I. B., Bohmann, K., Schultze, S. E., Richter, S. R., Murray, D. C., Sinding, M. H. S., Bass, D., Cadle, J. E., Campbell, M. J., Dolch, R., Edwards, D. P., Gray, T. N. E., Hansen, T., Hoa, A. N. Q., Noer, C. L., Heise-Pavlov, S., Sander Pedersen, A. F., Ramamonjisoa, J. C., Siddall, M. E., ... Gilbert, M. T. P. (2018). Debugging diversity – a pan-continental exploration of the potential of terrestrial blood-feeding leeches as a vertebrate monitoring tool. Molecular Ecology Resources, 18(6), 1282-1298. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12912

Debugging diversity – a pan-continental exploration of the potential of terrestrial blood-feeding leeches as a vertebrate monitoring tool. / Schnell, Ida Bærholm; Bohmann, Kristine; Schultze, Sebastian E. et al.
In: Molecular Ecology Resources, Vol. 18, No. 6, 2018, p. 1282-1298.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Schnell, IB, Bohmann, K, Schultze, SE, Richter, SR, Murray, DC, Sinding, MHS, Bass, D, Cadle, JE, Campbell, MJ, Dolch, R, Edwards, DP, Gray, TNE, Hansen, T, Hoa, ANQ, Noer, CL, Heise-Pavlov, S, Sander Pedersen, AF, Ramamonjisoa, JC, Siddall, ME, Tilker, A, Traeholt, C, Wilkinson, N, Woodcock, P, Yu, DW, Bertelsen, MF, Bunce, M & Gilbert, MTP 2018, 'Debugging diversity – a pan-continental exploration of the potential of terrestrial blood-feeding leeches as a vertebrate monitoring tool', Molecular Ecology Resources, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 1282-1298. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12912

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title = "Debugging diversity – a pan-continental exploration of the potential of terrestrial blood-feeding leeches as a vertebrate monitoring tool",

abstract = "The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) has become an applicable noninvasive tool with which to obtain information about biodiversity. A subdiscipline of eDNA is iDNA (invertebrate-derived DNA), where genetic material ingested by invertebrates is used to characterize the biodiversity of the species that served as hosts. While promising, these techniques are still in their infancy, as they have only been explored on limited numbers of samples from only a single or a few different locations. In this study, we investigate the suitability of iDNA extracted from more than 3,000 haematophagous terrestrial leeches as a tool for detecting a wide range of terrestrial vertebrates across five different geographical regions on three different continents. These regions cover almost the full geographical range of haematophagous terrestrial leeches, thus representing all parts of the world where this method might apply. We identify host taxa through metabarcoding coupled with high-throughput sequencing on Illumina and IonTorrent sequencing platforms to decrease economic costs and workload and thereby make the approach attractive for practitioners in conservation management. We identified hosts in four different taxonomic vertebrate classes: mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, belonging to at least 42 different taxonomic families. We find that vertebrate blood ingested by haematophagous terrestrial leeches throughout their distribution is a viable source of DNA with which to examine a wide range of vertebrates. Thus, this study provides encouraging support for the potential of haematophagous terrestrial leeches as a tool for detecting and monitoring terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity.",

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AU - Schnell, Ida Bærholm

AU - Bohmann, Kristine

AU - Schultze, Sebastian E.

AU - Richter, Stine R.

AU - Murray, Dáithí C.

AU - Sinding, Mikkel Holger S.

AU - Bass, David

AU - Cadle, John E.

AU - Campbell, Mason J.

AU - Dolch, Rainer

AU - Edwards, David P.

AU - Gray, Thomas N.E.

AU - Hansen, Teis

AU - Hoa, Anh Nguyen Quang

AU - Noer, Christina Lehmkuhl

AU - Heise-Pavlov, Sigrid

AU - Sander Pedersen, Adam F.

AU - Ramamonjisoa, Juliot Carl

AU - Siddall, Mark E.

AU - Tilker, Andrew

AU - Traeholt, Carl

AU - Wilkinson, Nicholas

AU - Woodcock, Paul

AU - Yu, Douglas W.

AU - Bertelsen, Mads Frost

AU - Bunce, Michael

AU - Gilbert, M. Thomas P.

PY - 2018

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N2 - The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) has become an applicable noninvasive tool with which to obtain information about biodiversity. A subdiscipline of eDNA is iDNA (invertebrate-derived DNA), where genetic material ingested by invertebrates is used to characterize the biodiversity of the species that served as hosts. While promising, these techniques are still in their infancy, as they have only been explored on limited numbers of samples from only a single or a few different locations. In this study, we investigate the suitability of iDNA extracted from more than 3,000 haematophagous terrestrial leeches as a tool for detecting a wide range of terrestrial vertebrates across five different geographical regions on three different continents. These regions cover almost the full geographical range of haematophagous terrestrial leeches, thus representing all parts of the world where this method might apply. We identify host taxa through metabarcoding coupled with high-throughput sequencing on Illumina and IonTorrent sequencing platforms to decrease economic costs and workload and thereby make the approach attractive for practitioners in conservation management. We identified hosts in four different taxonomic vertebrate classes: mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, belonging to at least 42 different taxonomic families. We find that vertebrate blood ingested by haematophagous terrestrial leeches throughout their distribution is a viable source of DNA with which to examine a wide range of vertebrates. Thus, this study provides encouraging support for the potential of haematophagous terrestrial leeches as a tool for detecting and monitoring terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity.

AB - The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) has become an applicable noninvasive tool with which to obtain information about biodiversity. A subdiscipline of eDNA is iDNA (invertebrate-derived DNA), where genetic material ingested by invertebrates is used to characterize the biodiversity of the species that served as hosts. While promising, these techniques are still in their infancy, as they have only been explored on limited numbers of samples from only a single or a few different locations. In this study, we investigate the suitability of iDNA extracted from more than 3,000 haematophagous terrestrial leeches as a tool for detecting a wide range of terrestrial vertebrates across five different geographical regions on three different continents. These regions cover almost the full geographical range of haematophagous terrestrial leeches, thus representing all parts of the world where this method might apply. We identify host taxa through metabarcoding coupled with high-throughput sequencing on Illumina and IonTorrent sequencing platforms to decrease economic costs and workload and thereby make the approach attractive for practitioners in conservation management. We identified hosts in four different taxonomic vertebrate classes: mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, belonging to at least 42 different taxonomic families. We find that vertebrate blood ingested by haematophagous terrestrial leeches throughout their distribution is a viable source of DNA with which to examine a wide range of vertebrates. Thus, this study provides encouraging support for the potential of haematophagous terrestrial leeches as a tool for detecting and monitoring terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity.

KW - high-throughput sequencing

KW - iDNA

KW - metabarcoding

KW - terrestrial haematophagous leeches

KW - vertebrate diversity

KW - vertebrate monitoring

U2 - 10.1111/1755-0998.12912

DO - 10.1111/1755-0998.12912

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29877042

AN - SCOPUS:85050651787

SN - 1755-098X

VL - 18

SP - 1282

EP - 1298

JO - Molecular Ecology Resources

JF - Molecular Ecology Resources

IS - 6

ER -

Debugging diversity – a pan-continental exploration of the potential of terrestrial blood-feeding leeches as a vertebrate monitoring tool

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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