Publications

created on: 28.05.2019 | by: Vera Rduch

There are about 10,000 species of flies and midges in Germany. Based on 45,040 specimen of Diptera scientist from Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich, from the Zoological Reseach Museum Alexander Koenig in Bonn and from the University of Guelph in Cananda, compiled a DNA barcode library for 5,200 species. Only a number of about 2,500 are named species. More than half of the barcodes could not be assigned to a species name: these are “Dark Taxa”.

created on: 19.03.2019 | by: Vera Rduch

For aquatic ecosystems in Europe, reliable barcode reference libraries are particularly important if molecular identification tools are to be implemented in biomonitoring and reports in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Researcher of the DNAquaNet WG I (https://dnaqua.net/) recently published preprint analysed gaps in the two most important reference databases, Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and NCBI GenBank, with a focus on the taxa most frequently used in WFD and MSFD. The results have implications for the future strategy to fill existing gaps in barcode libraries. The paper discusses why quality assurance of barcode reference libraries is needed and recommends future steps to ensure full utilization of metabarcoding in aquatic biomonitoring.

created on: 11.03.2019 | by: Vera Rduch

In this study, 12 species of rust fungi of the genus Milesina (Pucciniastraceae, Pucciniales) from Europe were revised. The investigation combined the analysis of urediniospore morphology and the analysis of barcode loci. Four phylogenetic groups were proposed as new sections within Milesina and a new species Milesina woodwardiana was described.

created on: | by: Vera Rduch

Metabarcoding is a powerful, increasingly popular tool for biodiversity assessment, but it still suffers from some drawbacks (specimen destruction, separation, and size sorting). Fixative-based metabarcoding might be an answer. The ethanol used for sample preserving is filtered and DNA is extracted from the filter for subsequent DNA metabarcoding. However, the authors conclude that for a comprehensive assessment on total invertebrate biodiversity, this timesaving alternative may not be sufficient, and conventional bulk sample metabarcoding should be applied.

created on: 06.03.2019 | by: Vera Rduch

Fish remains are difficult to detect in faecal pellets of bat species; thus, piscivory may not always be reliably detected by morphological identification of prey remains. But with the help of fish DNA in the faeces and DNA barcoding, fish was revealed a part of the diet European bat species also in Germany. The findings of this study improve our understanding of ecological relation around water bodies.

created on: 29.11.2018 | by: Matthias Geiger

Aethina tumida (Little Hive Beetle) is a non-native pest species of bee colonies, stemming from Africa first observed in the US, Australia, then later in Portugal and since 2014 also in Italy. Beekeepers are concerned. The brown, <10mm long beetle infests stocks of honey bees and bumblebees, where it feeds on honey, pollen and bee brood. They weaken stocks, the honey can begin to ferment and the honeycombs break down. Based also on DNA barcodes from GBOL, the authors of the study have developed a new molecular tool that enables a faster and more reliable determination of the not easily identifiable beetles, as well as their larvae and eggs.

created on: | by: Matthias Geiger

The evaluation of 3695 DNA barcodes of three families of Apoidea gave good News: 99% of the 661 species studied can be clearly identified with their DNA barcode. This means that 88% of the native German Ampulicidae, Crabronidae, and Sphecidae are now available for modern methods in the area of biodiversity monitoring, e.g. via metabarcoding of Malaise Trap samples and can be taken into account. The authors succeeded in covering two-thirds of the European fauna of apoid wasps.

created on: 06.09.2018 | by: Matthias Geiger

With the participation of the GBOL taxon coordinator Björn Rulik of Museum Koenig in Bonn (ZFMK), a detailed description of the standardized use of Malaise traps for the detection of flying insects has recently been published. The authors also explore ways to use DNA barcoding and metabarcoding to accelerate the analysis of complex trap contents in order to assess larger proportions of diversity at species level resolution. Let’s hope that as many federal states as possible take initiatives to capture “their” insect fauna and monitor their development.

created on: 09.08.2018 | by: Matthias Geiger

Through an international cooperation, another phytophagous species – Phytosciara greylockensis (Sciaridae) – from North America was described as a species new to science. With the help of GBOL the genetic distinction to the European representatives could be confirmed. Larvae of the new species are leafminers and develop in the leaves of the forest Clintonie (Clintonia borealis). So far, no other leafminer has been observed on this lily plant and also the funereal genus Phytosciara s. st. was thus documented for the first time from North America. These and other details can be found in the journal Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington.

created on: 06.08.2018 | by: Matthias Geiger

Water bugs occur in almost any freshwater environment and occupy very specific habitats, making them excellent bioindicators of water quality. A team of authors from the University of Oldenburg, Senckenberg am Meer Wilhelmshaven, the SNSB-ZSM, the Swiss Federal Research Station for Forest, Snow and Landscape, and B.U.G.S. (Biological Environmental Report Schäfer) present their findings on the Gerromorpha and Nepomorpha from Germany in a recent publication.