Sequencing a seabird food chain
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Date
2013
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University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Predator-prey interactions within food chains are used to both characterize and
understand ecosystems. Traditional methods of constructing food chains from visual
identification of prey in predator diet can suffer from poor taxonomic resolution,
misidentification, and bias against small or completely digestible prey. Next-generation
sequencing (NGS) technology has become a powerful tool with diet reconstruction
through barcoding of DNA in stomach content or fecal samples. Here, I use multi-locus
(16S and COl) next-generation sequencing of DNA barcodes on the feces of Atlantic
puffin (Fratercula arctica) chicks (n=65) and adults (n=64) and the stomach contents of
their main prey, Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus, n=44) to investigate a previously
studied food chain. I use NGS of puffin feces and herring stomach contents to compare
traditional and molecular-derived chick diet, to test the similarity between puffin adult
and chick diet, and to document herring diet at a taxonomic resolution greater than
previous diet-studying methods. I identified more unique prey with our 16S compared to
COl barcoding markers (51 and 39 taxa) with only 12 taxa identified by both genes. I
found no significant difference between the 16S-identified diets of puffin adults (n=l 7)
and chicks (n=41 ). My molecular method is more taxonomically resolved and
quantitatively sensitive than traditional methods. Many likely planktonic herring prey
were detected in feces from puffin chicks and adults, highlighting the impact secondary
consumption may have in the interpretation of molecular dietary analysis. This study
represents the first simultaneous molecular investigation into the diet of multiple
components of a food chain and highlights the utility of a multi-locus approach to food
web analysis.