Ancient and modern environmental DNA

Mikkel Winther Pedersen; Søren Overballe-Petersen; Luca Ermini; Clio Der Sarkissian; James Haile; Micaela Hellstrom; Johan Spens; Philip Francis Thomsen; Kristine Bohmann; Enrico Cappellini; Ida Bærholm Schnell; Nathan A. Wales; Christian Carøe; Paula F Campos; Astrid M.Z. Schmidt; M. Thomas P. Gilbert; Anders J. Hansen; Ludovic Orlando; Eske Willerslev

doi:10.1098/rstb.2013.0383

Ancient and modern environmental DNA

Mikkel Winther Pedersen, Søren Overballe-Petersen, Luca Ermini, Clio Der Sarkissian, James Haile, Micaela Hellstrom, Johan Spens, Philip Francis Thomsen, Kristine Bohmann, Enrico Cappellini, Ida Bærholm Schnell, Nathan A. Wales, Christian Carøe, Paula F Campos, Astrid M.Z. Schmidt, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Anders J. Hansen, Ludovic Orlando, Eske Willerslev^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

DNA obtained from environmental samples such as sediments, ice or water (environmental DNA, eDNA), represents an important source of information on past and present biodiversity. It has revealed an ancient forest in Greenland, extended by several thousand years the survival dates for mainland woolly mammoth in Alaska, and pushed back the dates for spruce survival in Scandinavian ice-free refugia during the last glaciation. More recently, eDNA was used to uncover the past 50 000 years of vegetation history in the Arctic, revealing massive vegetation turnover at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, with implications for the extinction of megafauna. Furthermore, eDNA can reflect the biodiversity of extant flora and fauna, both qualitatively and quantitatively, allowing detection of rare species. As such, trace studies of plant and vertebrate DNAin the environment have revolutionized our knowledge of biogeography. However, the approach remains marred by biases related toDNAbehaviour in environmental settings, incomplete reference databases and false positive results due to contamination.We provide a review of the field.

Original language	English
Number of pages	11
Journal	Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society Of London Series B - Biological Sciences
Volume	370
Issue number	1660
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0383
Publication status	Published - 19 Jan 2015

Keywords

Ancient
Ancient DNA
Environment
Environmental DNA
Review

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10.1098/rstb.2013.0383

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Pedersen, M. W., Overballe-Petersen, S., Ermini, L., Der Sarkissian, C., Haile, J., Hellstrom, M., Spens, J., Thomsen, P. F., Bohmann, K., Cappellini, E., Schnell, I. B., Wales, N. A., Carøe, C., Campos, P. F., Schmidt, A. M. Z., Gilbert, M. T. P., Hansen, A. J., Orlando, L., & Willerslev, E. (2015). Ancient and modern environmental DNA. Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society Of London Series B - Biological Sciences, 370(1660). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0383

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title = "Ancient and modern environmental DNA",

abstract = "DNA obtained from environmental samples such as sediments, ice or water (environmental DNA, eDNA), represents an important source of information on past and present biodiversity. It has revealed an ancient forest in Greenland, extended by several thousand years the survival dates for mainland woolly mammoth in Alaska, and pushed back the dates for spruce survival in Scandinavian ice-free refugia during the last glaciation. More recently, eDNA was used to uncover the past 50 000 years of vegetation history in the Arctic, revealing massive vegetation turnover at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, with implications for the extinction of megafauna. Furthermore, eDNA can reflect the biodiversity of extant flora and fauna, both qualitatively and quantitatively, allowing detection of rare species. As such, trace studies of plant and vertebrate DNAin the environment have revolutionized our knowledge of biogeography. However, the approach remains marred by biases related toDNAbehaviour in environmental settings, incomplete reference databases and false positive results due to contamination.We provide a review of the field.",

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doi = "10.1098/rstb.2013.0383",

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Pedersen, MW, Overballe-Petersen, S, Ermini, L, Der Sarkissian, C, Haile, J, Hellstrom, M, Spens, J, Thomsen, PF, Bohmann, K, Cappellini, E, Schnell, IB, Wales, NA, Carøe, C, Campos, PF, Schmidt, AMZ, Gilbert, MTP, Hansen, AJ, Orlando, L & Willerslev, E 2015, 'Ancient and modern environmental DNA', Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society Of London Series B - Biological Sciences, vol. 370, no. 1660. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0383

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T1 - Ancient and modern environmental DNA

AU - Pedersen, Mikkel Winther

AU - Overballe-Petersen, Søren

AU - Ermini, Luca

AU - Der Sarkissian, Clio

AU - Haile, James

AU - Hellstrom, Micaela

AU - Spens, Johan

AU - Thomsen, Philip Francis

AU - Bohmann, Kristine

AU - Cappellini, Enrico

AU - Schnell, Ida Bærholm

AU - Wales, Nathan A.

AU - Carøe, Christian

AU - Campos, Paula F

AU - Schmidt, Astrid M.Z.

AU - Gilbert, M. Thomas P.

AU - Hansen, Anders J.

AU - Orlando, Ludovic

AU - Willerslev, Eske

PY - 2015/1/19

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N2 - DNA obtained from environmental samples such as sediments, ice or water (environmental DNA, eDNA), represents an important source of information on past and present biodiversity. It has revealed an ancient forest in Greenland, extended by several thousand years the survival dates for mainland woolly mammoth in Alaska, and pushed back the dates for spruce survival in Scandinavian ice-free refugia during the last glaciation. More recently, eDNA was used to uncover the past 50 000 years of vegetation history in the Arctic, revealing massive vegetation turnover at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, with implications for the extinction of megafauna. Furthermore, eDNA can reflect the biodiversity of extant flora and fauna, both qualitatively and quantitatively, allowing detection of rare species. As such, trace studies of plant and vertebrate DNAin the environment have revolutionized our knowledge of biogeography. However, the approach remains marred by biases related toDNAbehaviour in environmental settings, incomplete reference databases and false positive results due to contamination.We provide a review of the field.

AB - DNA obtained from environmental samples such as sediments, ice or water (environmental DNA, eDNA), represents an important source of information on past and present biodiversity. It has revealed an ancient forest in Greenland, extended by several thousand years the survival dates for mainland woolly mammoth in Alaska, and pushed back the dates for spruce survival in Scandinavian ice-free refugia during the last glaciation. More recently, eDNA was used to uncover the past 50 000 years of vegetation history in the Arctic, revealing massive vegetation turnover at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, with implications for the extinction of megafauna. Furthermore, eDNA can reflect the biodiversity of extant flora and fauna, both qualitatively and quantitatively, allowing detection of rare species. As such, trace studies of plant and vertebrate DNAin the environment have revolutionized our knowledge of biogeography. However, the approach remains marred by biases related toDNAbehaviour in environmental settings, incomplete reference databases and false positive results due to contamination.We provide a review of the field.

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JO - Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society Of London Series B - Biological Sciences

JF - Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society Of London Series B - Biological Sciences

IS - 1660

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Ancient and modern environmental DNA

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Keywords

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