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High-throughput, DNA-based biodiversity assessment and detection for the environmental consultancy market

面向环境咨询市场的高通量、基于 DNA 的生物多样性评估和检测

基本信息

批准号：
NE/M021696/1
负责人：
Douglas Yu
金额：
$ 10.33万
依托单位：
University of East Anglia
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2015
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2015 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FM021696%2F1
关键词：
throughput DNA based biodiversity assessment

项目摘要

Does a proposed housing development contain protected species? Has a mining operation polluted a watershed? How can we be certain that the organic fruit we pay extra for is from nature-friendly farms? Which restoration treatment is most effective at restoring brownfield sites? Industries that have a large impact on the environment, such as mining, oil & gas, agriculture, aquaculture, and construction, need to measure the 'state of nature' as part of their operations, because failure to detect environmental damage is a source of reputational risk and legal liability, while success in protecting the environment can enhance reputation and result in premium pricing.However, environmental surveys are notoriously difficult to carry out because nature is diverse, and most species are difficult to detect, especially out of season, and to identify reliably and quickly. The standard method of identifying species by their morphologies consumes expensive field time for collections, requires scarce taxonomic expertise, is error-prone and difficult to standardise over long time series, and most importantly, is nearly impossible to verify to third parties, which impedes dispute resolution. The good news is that the world is permeated with DNA molecules that have been liberated from their original owners in the form of skin, mucous, saliva, sperm, eggs, faeces, urine, blood, secretions, roots, leaves, fruit, pollen, and rotting bodies, which is collectively known as environmental DNA or eDNA. It is also straightforward to collect and to extract DNA from bulk samples of plant material and mass-trapped arthropods (including the DNA of mammals and other vertebrates from blood that has been stolen by parasitic invertebrates). Recent technological advances have now made it feasible to read biodiversity from eDNA and bulk samples, giving us lists of hundreds to thousands of animal, plant, or fungal species, which can reveal the presence of protected and/or undesirable species. Also, changes in species lists tell us when the environment has changed for the better or for the worse, letting us detect pollution events, assess the outcome of restoration interventions, and track the state of nature in general. These DNA-based methods are many times faster than even expert taxonomists and are powerful at detecting hidden species. As a result, DNA-based methods promise to greatly reduce the costs of environmental monitoring while also increasing information content. This combination will confer competitive and reputational advantages on businesses able to take advantage of this new set of technologies. In 2012, the estimated global market for Environmental Consultancy was $27.4B, and the estimated UK market was £1.32B, of which £219M was spent on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), an 11.9% growth over 2011. In 2014, Natural England galvanised the consultancy sector by announcing that it would accept eDNA evidence to detect the endangered Great Crested Newt (a European Protected Species that features heavily in EIAs), due to eDNA's greater speed and reliability compared with visual surveys. We propose to start a company, NatureMetrics, that will provide a range of DNA-based environmental services on a white-label basis to environmental consultancies. We will use FoF funding to set up business and laboratory procedures so that we can reliably process large numbers of samples with rapid turnaround time and at lower costs. We have partnered with four UK environmental consultancies, and our four partners will market these services within their own product lines, which will increase the effectiveness of environmental management in general.Keywords: Biodiversity; biomonitoring; metabarcoding; mitogenomics; environmental DNA; pollution; freshwater; protected species; pollinators; environmental consultancy; infrastructure and construction; mining; oil & gas; water quality; agriculture; horticulture; forestry; conservation organisations

拟议的房屋发展项目是否包含受保护物种？采矿作业是否污染了流域？我们怎么能确定我们额外支付的有机水果是来自自然友好型农场？哪种修复方法对恢复棕地最有效？对环境有重大影响的行业，如采矿、石油和天然气、农业、水产养殖和建筑，需要测量“自然状态”作为其运营的一部分，因为未能检测到环境损害是声誉风险和法律责任的来源，而成功保护环境可以提高声誉并导致溢价定价。然而，环境调查是出了名的难以进行的，因为大自然是多样化的，大多数物种很难被发现，尤其是在季节之外，而且很难可靠和快速地识别。通过形态识别物种的标准方法耗费了昂贵的野外采集时间，需要很少的分类学专业知识，容易出错，而且很难在长时间序列中标准化，最重要的是，几乎不可能向第三方验证，这阻碍了争议的解决。好消息是，这个世界上到处都是DNA分子，它们以皮肤、粘液、唾液、精子、卵子、粪便、尿液、血液、分泌物、根、叶、水果、花粉和腐烂的尸体的形式从它们原来的主人那里解放出来，这些DNA分子统称为环境DNA或eDNA。从植物材料和大量捕获的节肢动物的大量样本中收集和提取DNA也很简单（包括从被寄生无脊椎动物窃取的血液中提取哺乳动物和其他脊椎动物的DNA）。最近的技术进步使得从eDNA和大量样本中读取生物多样性成为可能，给我们提供了数百到数千种动物、植物或真菌物种的清单，这些清单可以揭示受保护和/或不受欢迎物种的存在。此外，物种列表的变化告诉我们环境何时变好或变坏，让我们检测污染事件，评估恢复干预的结果，并跟踪总体自然状态。这些基于dna的方法比专业的分类学家要快很多倍，而且在探测隐藏物种方面非常强大。因此，基于dna的方法有望大大降低环境监测的成本，同时也增加了信息内容。这种结合将为能够利用这套新技术的企业带来竞争优势和声誉优势。2012年，全球环境咨询市场估计为274亿美元，英国市场估计为13.2亿英镑，其中2.19亿英镑用于环境影响评估（EIA），比2011年增长11.9%。2014年，自然英格兰宣布将接受eDNA证据来检测濒临灭绝的大冠毛蝾螈（一种欧洲受保护物种，在环境影响评估中占重要地位），这一消息刺激了咨询行业，因为与视觉调查相比，eDNA更快、更可靠。我们建议成立一家名为NatureMetrics的公司，为环境咨询公司提供一系列以dna为基础的环境服务。我们将使用FoF资金来建立业务和实验室程序，以便我们能够以快速的周转时间和较低的成本可靠地处理大量样品。我们与四家英国环境咨询公司合作，我们的四家合作伙伴将在他们自己的产品线中推广这些服务，这将总体上提高环境管理的有效性。关键词:生物多样性;生物监测;metabarcoding;mitogenomics;环境DNA;污染;淡水;受保护的物种;传粉者;环境咨询机构;基础设施和建筑；采矿;石油天然气；水质量;农业;园艺;林业;保护组织