GO-eFISH: Generating best practise for the use of eDNA for marine fish biodiversity analyses

传统的海洋生物分类群形态学或图像分类耗时，需要专业知识，而且对某些生命形式（如鱼卵）几乎不可能。最近引起人们极大兴趣的另一种方法是使用所谓的环境DNA或“eDNA”;动物通过脱落皮肤细胞、生殖阶段或通过分解留下的DNA签名。eDNA为研究鱼类群落的种群结构提供了机会，无论其处于哪个生命阶段，而且无需人工捕捞和计数。这一重要数据支持鱼类资源评估和渔业管理（例如在Applied Genomics，我们开发了可以自动从海洋环境中收集大量eDNA的技术，并开发了半定量鱼类物种丰度的协议。利用西海峡天文台长期生物多样性监测站每周进行的采样，普利茅斯海洋实验室的研究人员自2012年以来一直在收集较小的水DNA样本。通过共同努力，我们的目标是将来自DNA方法的鱼类分类群数据与来自传统捕获和计数方法的数据进行比较，以改进我们的DNA方法，提高Applied Genomics自动化大容量eDNA采样器的技术准备程度。与此同时，我们将提供详细的洞察变化的鱼类种群的季节性结构随着时间的推移在西海峡天文台。

Traditional morphological or image-based classification of marine taxa is time-consuming, requires specialist knowledge and is near impossible for certain life forms (e.g. fish eggs). An alternative approach that has lately received a great deal of interest is the use of so-called environmental DNA or 'eDNA'; the DNA signature that animals leave behind either through shedding skin cells, reproductive stages or through decomposition. eDNA offers the opportunity to study the population structures of fish communities, regardless of life stage, and without the need to catch and count manually. This vital data supports fish stock assessment and fisheries management (_e.g._ spawning areas, seasons, recruitment, simultaneously for multiple fish species), and will aid in our understanding of drivers of change.At Applied Genomics, we have developed technologies that can automatically collect large quantities of eDNA from the marine environment and have developed protocols to semi-quantify fish species abundance. Making use of the weekly sampling taking place at the Western Channel Observatory long-term biodiversity monitoring site, researchers at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory have been collecting smaller water DNA samples since 2012\. Working together, our aim is to compare the data on fish taxa derived from DNA methods with those from conventional catch-and-count methods in order to refine our DNA methodologies, improving the technology readiness of Applied Genomics' automated large volume eDNA sampler. At the same time, we will provide detailed insight into changes to the seasonal structure of fish populations over time at the Western Channel Observatory.