A molecular-based identification resource for the arthropods of Finland

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Resources published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.To associate specimens identified by molecular characters to other biological knowledge, we need reference sequences annotated by Linnaean taxonomy. In this study, we (1) report the creation of a comprehensive reference library of DNA barcodes for the arthropods of an entire country (Finland), (2) publish this library, and (3) deliver a new identification tool for insects and spiders, as based on this resource. The reference library contains mtDNA COI barcodes for 11,275 (43%) of 26,437 arthropod species known from Finland, including 10,811 (45%) of 23,956 insect species. To quantify the improvement in identification accuracy enabled by the current reference library, we ran 1000 Finnish insect and spider species through the Barcode of Life Data system (BOLD) identification engine. Of these, 91% were correctly assigned to a unique species when compared to the new reference library alone, 85% were correctly identified when compared to BOLD with the new material included, and 75% with the new material excluded. To capitalize on this resource, we used the new reference material to train a probabilistic taxonomic assignment tool, FinPROTAX, scoring high success. For the full-length barcode region, the accuracy of taxonomic assignments at the level of classes, orders, families, subfamilies, tribes, genera, and species reached 99.9%, 99.9%, 99.8%, 99.7%, 99.4%, 96.8%, and 88.5%, respectively. The FinBOL arthropod reference library and FinPROTAX are available through the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (www.laji.fi) at https://laji.fi/en/theme/protax. Overall, the FinBOL investment represents a massive capacity-transfer from the taxonomic community of Finland to all sectors of society.Peer reviewe

One thousand DNA barcodes of piranhas and pacus reveal geographic structure and unrecognised diversity in the Amazon

Piranhas and pacus (Characiformes: Serrasalmidae) are a charismatic but understudied family of Neotropical fishes. Here, we analyse a DNA barcode dataset comprising 1,122 specimens, 69 species, 16 genera, 208 localities, and 34 major river drainages in order to make an inventory of diversity and to highlight taxa and biogeographic areas worthy of further sampling effort and conservation protection. Using four methods of species discovery - incorporating both tree and distance based techniques - we report between 76 and 99 species-like clusters, i.e. between 20% and 33% of a priori identified taxonomic species were represented by more than one mtDNA lineage. There was a high degree of congruence between clusters, with 60% supported by three or four methods. Pacus of the genus Myloplus exhibited the most intraspecific variation, with six of the 13 species sampled found to have multiple lineages. Conversely, piranhas of the Serrasalmus rhombeus group proved difficult to delimit with these methods due to genetic similarity and polyphyly. Overall, our results recognise substantially underestimated diversity in the serrasalmids, and emphasise the Guiana and Brazilian Shield rivers as biogeographically important areas with multiple cases of across-shield and within-shield diversifications. We additionally highlight the distinctiveness and complex phylogeographic history of rheophilic taxa in particular, and suggest multiple colonisations of these habitats by different serrasalmid lineages. © 2018 The Author(s)

A molecular-based identification resource for the arthropods of Finland

To associate specimens identified by molecular characters to other biological knowledge, we need reference sequences annotated by Linnaean taxonomy. In this study, we (1) report the creation of a comprehensive reference library of DNA barcodes for the arthropods of an entire country (Finland), (2) publish this library, and (3) deliver a new identification tool for insects and spiders, as based on this resource. The reference library contains mtDNA COI barcodes for 11,275 (43%) of 26,437 arthropod species known from Finland, including 10,811 (45%) of 23,956 insect species. To quantify the improvement in identification accuracy enabled by the current reference library, we ran 1000 Finnish insect and spider species through the Barcode of Life Data system (BOLD) identification engine. Of these, 91% were correctly assigned to a unique species when compared to the new reference library alone, 85% were correctly identified when compared to BOLD with the new material included, and 75% with the new material excluded. To capitalize on this resource, we used the new reference material to train a probabilistic taxonomic assignment tool, FinPROTAX, scoring high success. For the full-length barcode region, the accuracy of taxonomic assignments at the level of classes, orders, families, subfamilies, tribes, genera, and species reached 99.9%, 99.9%, 99.8%, 99.7%, 99.4%, 96.8%, and 88.5%, respectively. The FinBOL arthropod reference library and FinPROTAX are available through the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (www.laji.fi) at https://laji.fi/en/theme/protax. Overall, the FinBOL investment represents a massive capacity-transfer from the taxonomic community of Finland to all sectors of society.</p

Biodiversity inventories in high gear: DNA barcoding facilitates a rapid biotic survey of a temperate nature reserve

Comprehensive biotic surveys, or ‘all taxon biodiversity inventories’ (ATBI), have traditionally been limited in scale or scope due to the complications surrounding specimen sorting and species identification. To circumvent these issues, several ATBI projects have successfully integrated DNA barcoding into their identification procedures and witnessed acceleration in their surveys and subsequent increase in project scope and scale. The Biodiversity Institute of Ontario partnered with the rare Charitable Research Reserve and delegates of the 6th International Barcode of Life Conference to complete its own rapid, barcode-assisted ATBI of an established land trust in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Utility of DNA barcodes in identification and delimitation of beetle species, with insights into COI protein structure across the animal kingdom

Abstract Species are the fundamental units of biological diversity, but their identification and delimitation is often difficult. The difficulties are pronounced in diverse taxa such as insects. DNA barcodes, short standardized segments of the genome, have recently become a popular tool for identifying specimens to species, and are increasingly used as one of the sources of information for species delimitation. In this thesis, I studied the utility of DNA barcodes in species identification and delimitation in beetles (Coleoptera). Beetles are one of the most diverse animal groups, with nearly 400 000 known species. The Nordic beetle fauna is among the most thoroughly studied on the planet, providing excellent conditions for these studies. I also approached barcode sequences from a new angle, exploring amino acid variation and its connections to life history in a sample of the entire animal kingdom. I also studied variation and evolution at the amino acid level in large-scale samples of beetles and moths &#38; butterflies (Lepidoptera). DNA barcodes proved to be a feasible tool for identifying species of Nordic beetles: depending on the criteria for successful identification, 95-98% of specimens could be identified to the species level based on DNA barcodes. Regardless of the delimitation method used, approximately 90% of the currently accepted species were perfectly recovered based on barcode data, and simple rules for forming consensus between delimitations improved the fit between species and barcode clusters even further. Several species that were split into two or more sequence clusters apparently include species new to science that have been previously overlooked. This conclusion is supported by preliminary morphological analysis. The study on amino acid variation revealed both a general pattern of structural conservation throughout the animal kingdom, and some interesting amino acid substitutions with potential to affect enzymatic function. Amino acid variation was more extensive in Coleoptera than in Lepidoptera, potentially due to differences in selection pressure and patterns of molecular evolution in the barcode region between the two orders.Tiivistelmä Laji on luonnon monimuotoisuuden perusyksikkö, mutta lajien tunnistaminen ja rajaaminen on usein vaikeaa. Vaikeudet korostuvat erityisesti hyvin monimuotoisissa eliöryhmissä kuten hyönteisissä. DNA-viivakoodit ovat lyhyitä standardoituja DNA-sekvenssejä, joiden käyttö lajien tunnistamisessa sekä yhtenä tiedon lähteenä lajien rajaamisessa on viime aikoina yleistynyt nopeasti. Tutkin väitöskirjatyössäni DNA-viivakoodien soveltuvuutta lajinmääritykseen ja lajien rajaamiseen kovakuoriaisilla. Kovakuoriaiset ovat yksi maailman lajirikkaimmista eliöryhmistä: lajeja on kuvattu lähes 400000. Pohjois-Euroopan lajisto tunnetaan koko maailman mittakaavassa poikkeuksellisen hyvin, mikä tarjoaa erinomaiset edellytykset tutkia DNA-viivakoodeihin liittyviä kysymyksiä kuoriaisilla. Tutkin DNA-viivakoodeja myös kokonaan uudesta näkökulmasta, selvittäen aminohappotason muuntelua koko eläinkunnan kattavassa otoksessa, sekä laajalla perhos- ja kuoriaisaineistolla. DNA-viivakoodit osoittautuivat erinomaiseksi työkaluksi lajinmääritykseen: riippuen onnistuneen määrityksen kriteereistä 95–98 % kuoriaislajeista voitiin tunnistaa luotettavasti viivakoodien perusteella. Käytetystä menetelmästä riippumatta noin 90 % nykykäsityksen mukaisista lajeista voitiin rajata viivakoodien perusteella oikein, ja soveltamalla yksinkertaisia konsensus-sääntöjä yhteensopivuus lajien ja viivakoodiklustereiden välillä kasvoi entisestään. Useat kuoriaislajit, jotka jakautuivat kahteen tai useampaan viivakoodiklusteriin, sisältävät alustavien morfologisten tutkimusten perusteella aiemmin huomaamatta jääneitä uusia lajeja. Aminohappo- ja proteiinitason tutkimus osoitti, että viivakoodijakson koodaaman proteiinin rakenne on yleisesti ottaen konservoitunut kautta eläinkunnan. Havaitsin kuitenkin myös useita kiinnostavia aminohappo-muutoksia, jotka saattavat vaikuttaa entsyymitoimintaan. Aminohapposekvenssi muuntelee kuoriaisilla paljon enemmän kuin perhosilla, mahdollisesti johtuen taksonien välisistä eroista molekyylievoluutiossa ja viivakoodisekvenssiin kohdistuvassa valintapaineessa

Molecular evolution in introduced insect species:a mitochondrial perspective

Abstract Introduced species provide the opportunity to study evolutionary change on short time scales—a key first step to understand and manage the ecosystem-level impact of invasions. This study examined mitochondrial DNA sequence variation in cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) for 26 insect species—Coleoptera (9), Hymenoptera (9), and Lepidoptera (8)—introduced to the Nearctic from the Palearctic. A total of 6,302 barcode records were retrieved from BOLD (boldsystems.org) to compare sequence diversity between the native and introduced range. As expected, genetic variation averaged nearly an order of magnitude lower in introduced populations (2.19 × 10⁻⁵ substitutions per nucleotide) than in the native range (1.48 ×10⁻⁴ substitutions per nucleotide). Nonsynonymous and synonymous changes had a similar incidence in the introduced populations (p-value = 0.83, averaging respectively 1.08 × 10⁻⁵ and 1.11 × 10⁻⁵ substitutions). By contrast, nonsynonymous changes were ten-fold less frequent than synonymous changes in the native populations (p-value &lt; 0.001, averaging 1.74 × 10⁻⁵ and 1.3 × 10⁻⁴ substitutions, respectively). Patterns of sequence variation in the introduced range were largely congruent across the three insect orders which suggests that they are produced by general processes. This study explores the molecular evolution of introduced species, a fundamental aspect to improve understanding of their biology and manage their impact on ecosystems

Mannerheim 150 Years Celebration Concert : konserter i Helsingfors, Åbo och Rauma, Finland

I detta projekt undersökte jag mitt konstnärliga handlingsutrymme som sångare genom att ta en mycket aktiv del av programsättningen. Produktionen innehöll flera språk: ryska, tyska, svenska och engelskaValiderad;2017;Nivå 1;2017-12-18 (svasva)</p