DNA taxonomy

 

We are interested in obtaining reliable estimates of diversity. The main problem we address is whether we can obtain metrics of diversity that are a good representation of the reality. We thus investigate the discrepancies between traditional morphological taxonomy, DNA taxonomy and next generation sequencing at the species, population and community level using different animal groups as test-cases. We use different markers and apply different tools from DNA taxonomy, including DNA barcoding, GMYC, ABGD, PTP, K/theta, etc.
The most recent outputs of this line of research are (1) a comprehensive evaluation of the possibilities of metabarcoding in the meiofauna, (2) a review of the DNA taxonomy methods for meiofauna based on single locus genetic data, and (3) a metabarcoding study to understand the effect of tourists on meiofauna (click on the frontpages to access the articles).

 

(1)   (2)  (3)