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

传统的基于形态或图像的海洋类群分类非常耗时，需要专业知识，对于某些生命形式(例如鱼卵)几乎是不可能的。最近引起极大兴趣的另一种方法是使用所谓的环境DNA或‘Edna’，即动物通过脱落皮肤细胞、生殖阶段或分解留下的DNA签名。EDNA提供了研究鱼类群落种群结构的机会，而不考虑生命阶段，而且不需要人工捕捞和计数。这些至关重要的数据支持鱼类资源评估和渔业管理(例如，多个鱼种的产卵区域、季节、补充，同时)，并将有助于我们理解变化的驱动因素。在应用基因组学，我们开发了可以自动从海洋环境中收集大量EDNA的技术，并开发了半定量鱼种丰度的协议。普利茅斯海洋实验室的研究人员利用西海峡天文台长期生物多样性监测点每周进行的采样，自2012年以来一直在收集较小的水DNA样本。通力合作，我们的目标是将来自DNA方法的鱼类分类群数据与传统的捕获和计数方法得出的数据进行比较，以完善我们的DNA方法，提高应用基因组公司的自动化大容量EDNA采样器的技术准备。与此同时，我们将在西海峡天文台提供关于鱼类种群季节性结构随时间的变化的详细见解。

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.