Abstract
Noninvasive genetic sampling enables biomonitoring without the need to directly observe or disturb target organisms. This paper describes a novel and promising source of noninvasive spider and insect DNA from spider webs. Using black widow spiders (Latrodectus spp.) fed with house crickets (Acheta domesticus), we successfully extracted, amplified, and sequenced mitochondrial DNA from spider web samples that identified both spider and prey to species. Detectability of spider DNA did not differ between assays with amplicon sizes from 135 to 497 base pairs. Spider and prey DNA remained detectable at least 88 days after living organisms were no longer present on the web. Spider web DNA as a proof-of-concept may open doors to other practical applications in conservation research, pest management, biogeography studies, and biodiversity assessments.
Highlights
As dominant predators of arthropod communities in natural and agricultural ecosystems, spiders can be important ecological indicators that reflect habitat quality and change [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
With the exception of zero amplification for the 311 bp polymerase chain reactions (PCR) assay from two samples, 2–10 technical replicates of each PCR assay successfully amplified from all samples
Web DNA sequences obtained from enclosure samples, “Lmac_1”, “Lmac_2”, and “Lmac_3”, were confirmed by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) BLAST and Barcode of Life database (BOLD) Identification System (IDS) to be L. mactans and DNA from the zoo exhibit sample, “Lhes_zoo”, was confirmed to be L. hesperus
Summary
As dominant predators of arthropod communities in natural and agricultural ecosystems, spiders can be important ecological indicators that reflect habitat quality and change [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Monitoring the species diversity and abundance of spider assemblages facilitates natural resource management [6]. Spiders are enormously diverse (~ 45,000 described species) and many can be difficult to identify [7]. Genetic identification methods such as DNA barcoding, the use of a short and standardized fragment of DNA to identify organisms, have been growing in popularity because of decreasing costs and ease of use [12]. The most commonly used genetic marker is the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) mitochondrial gene because of its designation as the standard DNA barcode [16]. Mitochondrial markers are ideal for detecting low quantity and quality DNA from environmental or gut samples because each cell
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