Case Study
Submitted By
| Name: | Roberto Guidetti |
| Institution: | University of Modena and Reggio Emilia |
| Country: | Italy |
| Email: | guidetti.roberto@unimore.it |
Title & Categories
| Case Study Title: | DNA barcoding of Tardigrada |
| Focus Theme: | Resolving discrete taxonomic problems, Experimental application of barcodes to a new taxonomic group, Biotic inventory of a poorly known taxonomic group, Adding barcodes to a large survey of a taxonomic group, Systematic revision of an entire taxon, Resolving discrete taxonomic problems, Biotic inventory of multiple taxa in a region or habitat, Biotic inventory of a poorly known taxonomic group, Adding barcodes to a large survey of a taxonomic group, Experimental application of barcodes to a new taxonomic group, Biotic inventory of multiple taxa in a region or habitat, Species conservation, Resolving discrete taxonomic problems, Experimental application of barcodes to a new taxonomic group, Adding barcodes to a large survey of a taxonomic group, Systematic revision of an entire taxon, Species conservation, Biotic inventory of a poorly known taxonomic group, Adding barcodes to a large survey of a taxonomic group, Systematic revision of an entire taxon |
| Geographic Region: | Unspecified, Unspecified, Unspecified, Central America, Unspecified |
| Habitat Type: | Terrestrial temperate forest, Terrestrial polar ice/tundra, Terrestrial montane, Estuarine, Terrestrial grasslands, Terrestrial desert, Terrestrial cultivated land, Terrestrial caves, Salt lake, Marine open ocean water column, Marine nearshore benthos, Marine deep ocean benthos, Marine continental slope benthos, Marine continental shelf water column, Marine continental shelf benthos, Intertidal, Hypersaline, Freshwater streams, Freshwater rivers, Freshwater marshland, Freshwater lakes, Freshwater - Other, Estuarine, Coastal wetlands, Terrestrial tropical forest, Terrestrial tropical forest, Terrestrial temperate forest, Terrestrial polar ice/tundra, Terrestrial montane, Coastal wetlands, Freshwater - Other, Terrestrial grasslands, Terrestrial desert, Terrestrial cultivated land, Terrestrial caves, Terrestrial - Other, Salt lake, Marine open ocean water column, Marine nearshore benthos, Marine deep ocean benthos, Marine continental slope benthos, Marine continental shelf water column, Marine continental shelf benthos, Marine - Other, Intertidal, Hypersaline, Freshwater streams, Freshwater rivers, Freshwater rivers, Freshwater marshland, Freshwater lakes, Marine nearshore benthos, Marine deep ocean benthos, Marine continental slope benthos, Marine continental shelf water column, Marine continental shelf benthos, Terrestrial tropical forest, Terrestrial temperate forest, Terrestrial montane, Terrestrial grasslands, Terrestrial cultivated land, Freshwater rivers, Freshwater - Other |
| Taxonomic Group: | d: Tardigrada, d: Tardigrada, d: Mollusca, d: Cnidaria, c: PLANTS, f: VERTEBRATES, f: Osteichthyes, f: Chondrichthyes |
Scope
Tardigrades belong to the meiofauna and are distributed worldwide in marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitats. In terrestrial habitat tardigrades represent the major faunal component of mosses and lichens. They are also frequent in leaf litter and turf. No data are available on tardigrade DNA barcoding. Tardigrades are suitable for a DNA barcoding approach for their identification because the number of species is still quite limited (about 1000 species) and the number of new species described every year is very high. Especially for marine environments and for poorly studied continents the knowledge is still very scarce. Moreover, sometime the species descriptions are insufficient to well discriminate the taxa. Therefore it is important to begin to associate DNA sequences to morphological descriptions to have a more complete and informative data set for this animal group.
Purpose
Meiofaunal taxa are often problematic to diagnose at species level due to both the low number of taxonomic characters often involved and the low number of expert taxonomists. In neglected and difficult taxa such as tardigrades, DNA sequence data can be a really helpful identification tool and can provide a useful starting point for further biological studies as phylogeny, cryptic species identification, cosmopolitan or endemic species identification and more in general geographic distribution. Therefore, a DNA barcoding project can be useful not only for the specialists of this group but also for all researchers interested in biodiversity, ecology, evolution and experimental biology.
Background
Protocols for DNA extraction and amplification of COI sequences in tardigrades are available but no data are available devoted to tardigrade DNA barcoding. Only little information on COI sequences are present in GENBANK. Studies on genetic variability demonstrate that DNA barcode can be applied to tardigrades. As examples, genetic distance of COI sequences of populations from very distant localities ranged from 0-1.28% (Jørgensen et al. 2007, our unpublished data); COI sequences of two presumed cosmopolitan species have been demonstrated the existence of cryptic species in both (Faurby et al. 2008; our unpublished data). The use of the entire animal is needed to extract DNA from a tardigrade. For this project we want to develop protocols of DNA extraction to allow to conserve as much as voucher data are possible. In the laboratories of the proponent organization experts in tardigrade taxonomy and evolution are present and infrastructures for molecular studies and fine morphological analysis are available to realize this project.
Logistics
Specific sampling campaigns will be organize to collect specimens and specimens could be send to the laboratories involved in the project for COI analysis. In the laboratories of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia both morphological and molecular studies will be performed. We will collaborate with other research groups to have as wide as possible coverage of the collecting sites around the world, and to have a high number of laboratories performing taxonomic and molecular studies.