Population characteristics of a large whale shark aggregation inferred from seawater environmental DNA

Eva Egelyng Sigsgaard; Ida Broman Nielsen; Steffen Sanvig Bach; Eline D Lorenzen; David Philip Robinson; Steen Wilhelm Knudsen; Mikkel Winther Pedersen; Mohammed Al Jaidah; Ludovic Orlando; Eske Willerslev; Peter Rask Møller; Philip Francis Thomsen

doi:10.1038/s41559-016-0004

Population characteristics of a large whale shark aggregation inferred from seawater environmental DNA

Nat Ecol Evol. 2016 Nov 21;1(1):4. doi: 10.1038/s41559-016-0004.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark.
² Section for Evolutionary Genomics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark.
³ Maersk Oil Research and Technology Centre, Al Jazi Tower, Building 20, Zone 60, Street 850, West Bay, Doha, Qatar.
⁴ School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton Campus, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
⁵ Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Conference Centre Street, Al Dafna 61, Doha, Qatar.
⁶ Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.
⁷ Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.

PMID: 28812572
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-016-0004

Abstract

Population genetics is essential for understanding and managing marine ecosystems, but sampling remains challenging. We demonstrate that high-throughput sequencing of seawater environmental DNA can provide useful estimates of genetic diversity in a whale shark (Rhincodon typus) aggregation. We recover similar mitochondrial haplotype frequencies in seawater compared to tissue samples, reliably placing the studied aggregation in a global genetic context and expanding the applications of environmental DNA to encompass population genetics of aquatic organisms.