Genomic Biorepository of Coastal Marine Species in Estero Padre Ramos and Estero Real, Nicaragua

Abstract

Nicaragua, located in southern Mesoamerica between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, has acted as a land bridge for flora and fauna migrating between North and South America during the last 3 million years. Because of Nicaragua’s location and history, it is rich in terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity. To study this biodiversity and preserve it for the future, Nicaragua’s Molecular Biology Center at the University of Central America (CBM-UCA) created the Genomic Biorepository Project. The Project collects and catalogs coastal marine biodiversity in the Estero Real and Padre Ramos estuaries, located in Nicaragua’s northern Pacific region.The biorepository holds more than three thousand tissue and genomic specimens, comprising 1,049 samples (714 specimens from Estero Padre Ramos and 335 from Estero Real) belonging to 100 species and 54 families, genomic extracts in triplicates for every sample collected and environmental sandy sediments representing 60 different sites. Changes in the biological composition of the region were documentedas compared to previous sampling. Of the 1,049 samples obtained from the two estuaries, 30 new residents were recorded in Estero Real, and 19 in Estero Padre Ramos. The Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene was sequenced for a number of species, including 19 fish species, and published to public databases (BOLD SYSTEMS). The records contained in the genomic biorepository here described lay the foundation for the most complete marine biodiversity database in Nicaragua and is made available to national and international specialists, facilitating knowledge of Nicaraguan biodiversity.