蓝贻贝通常在极地海洋沿海生态系统中含量丰富且分布广泛。由于它们分布广泛,生态重要性,和相对固定的生活方式,长期以来,双壳类一直被认为是生态系统健康和变化的合适指标。监测蓝贻贝的种群动态可以提供有关整体生物多样性的信息,物种相互作用,和生态系统功能。在目前的工作中,我们结合了液体活检(LB)的概念,一个新兴的医学概念,基于自由循环DNA的测序,牛津纳米孔技术(ONT)平台在偏远地区使用便携式实验室。我们的结果表明,该平台非常适合测序蓝贻贝中发现的血淋巴循环无细胞DNA(ccfDNA)片段。在某些采样点,非自身ccfDNA占ccfDNA的百分比>50%,允许快速,现场获取沿海海洋生态系统生物多样性的全球观点。这些ccfDNA片段来源于病毒,细菌,植物,节肢动物,藻类,和多个Chordata。除了非自身ccfDNA,我们发现了所有14条蓝色贻贝染色体的DNA片段,以及来自线粒体基因组的那些。然而,核和线粒体DNA的分布在位点之间有显著差异。同样,不同采样点之间的分析表明,微生境内的生物多样性差异很大。我们的工作表明,ONT平台非常适合在偏远和具有挑战性的条件下的前哨蓝贻贝LB,在不同的环境中,为保护策略和资源管理提供更快的实地考察。
Blue
mussels are often abundant and widely distributed in polar marine coastal ecosystems. Because of their wide distribution, ecological importance, and relatively stationary lifestyle, bivalves have long been considered suitable indicators of ecosystem health and changes. Monitoring the population dynamics of blue
mussels can provide information on the overall biodiversity, species interactions, and ecosystem functioning. In the present work, we combined the concept of liquid biopsy (LB), an emerging concept in medicine based on the sequencing of free circulating DNA, with the Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) platform using a portable laboratory in a remote area. Our results demonstrate that this platform is ideally suited for sequencing hemolymphatic circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) fragments found in blue
mussels. The percentage of non-self ccfDNA accounted for >50 % of ccfDNA at certain sampling Sites, allowing the quick, on-site acquisition of a global view of the biodiversity of a coastal marine ecosystem. These ccfDNA fragments originated from viruses, bacteria, plants, arthropods, algae, and multiple Chordata. Aside from non-self ccfDNA, we found DNA fragments from all 14 blue mussel chromosomes, as well as those originating from the mitochondrial genomes. However, the distribution of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA was significantly different between Sites. Similarly, analyses between various sampling Sites showed that the biodiversity varied significantly within microhabitats. Our work shows that the ONT platform is well-suited for LB in sentinel blue
mussels in remote and challenging conditions, enabling faster fieldwork for conservation strategies and resource management in diverse settings.