Chae, Y.J., H.J. Oh, Y.J. Kim, K.H. Chang & H.B. Jo. (2021). Application of DNA Analysis for Identification of Prey Items on Zooplankton: Selective Treatment Method. Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment. 54(3):247-256. [In Korean; English abstract].

471417

10.11614/ksl.2021.54.3.247 [view]

Chae, Y.J., H.J. Oh, Y.J. Kim, K.H. Chang & H.B. Jo

2021

54(3):247-256. [In Korean; English abstract]

Publication

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Understanding the selective feeding behavior of zooplankton on phytoplankton is essential for evaluating the nutrient cycle and energy flow in the food web. Although many studies have been conducted regarding the feeding behaviors of zooplankton through gut content analyses, there are limitations in the visual identification of digested contents using a microscope. DNA techniques have been applied to overcome these limitations since they can detect and amplify small amounts of prey DNA remaining in the gut contents. We designed a method to extract prey DNA from the gut contents of the whole body of the copepod specimen and tested the resolution of DNA identification for the prey phytoplankton. The common brackish species, Sinocalanus tenellus, were collected from Saemangeum Reservoir in different sites and seasons, and gut content DNA was extracted using 2.5% bleach treatment for 2 min for removal of potential contamination sources existing in preserved specimens without dissolution of the body. The sequences of the extracted gut contents were confirmed using BLASTn suite based on the NCBI database. The phytoplankton species detected in the gut showed temporal and spatial differences. Although DNA analysis of small copepod gut contents has been suggested as an effective method to examine the dynamics of primary prey sources at the genus or species level, uncertainties such as misidentification and limitations in the detailed information of the composition still exist. Key words: Sinocalanus tenellus, capillary sequencing, Saemangeum reservoir

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