Marine species monitoring and conservation in a cup of water. thierry.baussant@iris.no Marine species monitoring and conservation in a cup of water. eDNA - A new tool in the toolbox to facilitate management goals for species conservation and ecosystems

The big picture Biodiversity promotes ocean health and service provision What species are present ? What role and function do they have for the ecosystem ? How do they respond to alterations in their chemical and physical environment ? Are there species indicators of these changes ?

Traditional approach for marine monitoring is cumbersome

Our capacity to understand and act on ecosystems is limited by our capacity to observe and sense their inhabitants

Science 2015 PLOS Biology, 2011

De Vargas et al., Science, 2015

Deep-sea exploration: most deep-sea biodiversity is unknown

Earth's sixth mass extinction event under way, scientists warn

eDNA – what can we tell from a bucket of seawater? eDNA: a mixture of DNA shed from many different organisms (without physical presence of the target) and whole microorganisms Environmental sample eDNA sample

eDNA – what can it be used for ? Species-specific identification Inventory of species=biodiversity

Areas of potential interest for eDNA Marine biodiversity monitoring ecosystem management compliance surveillance Tracking shift Endangered species Invasive species Ballast water/climate changes Citizen science citizen science collection protocol for eDNA sampling at regional/national/international level

eDNA status and challenges Applicable across broad taxonomic groups Potentially cheaper, more sensitive, non-intrusive Presence of eDNA indicates recent status eDNA can tell about population distribution and abundance NGS of eDNA can tell about species richeness Suited to automatic sampling and analysis But …. factors influencing eDNA detection in the marine environment (eDNA shedding rates, fate, and transport, degradation rates etc) require further attention Incomplete database False positives/negatives

PlosOne, 2012

Utility of metabarcoding to assess anthropogenic impacts on benthic eukaryotic community structure Same conclusions as obtained by classical morphology-based monitoring techniques in a cost-effective, faster and more comprehensive manner.

2016 Ecogenomic sensors =instruments that are capable of utilizing molecular analytical techniques to autonomously detect and/or quantify specific organisms of interest in the field MBON “Extensive research has demonstrated that maintaining biodiversity promotes ocean health and service provision; therefore, monitoring the status and trends of marine biodiversity is important for effective ecosystem management.” Duffy et al., 2013, BioScience

Sampling eDNA from microbes to whales using robotized platforms «Our main task is to figure out how life in the sea is changing …» (MBARI) Use eDNA from microbes to marine mammals using a single water sample Use the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) for eDNA sample analysis Image souce: Kelly Lance © 2014 MBARI

Environmental Sample Processor «eDNA on-line» genosensor Image: Holly Bowers © 2014 MBARI

(& other raphidophytes) Alexandrium tamarense/ The ESP can detect a wide range of targets based on their genetic specificity Microbes Harmful Algae Invertebrate Larvae Pseudo-nitzschia sp. (toxic & nontoxic) Balanus glandula (Acorn barnacle) Heterosigma akashiwo (& other raphidophytes) Osedax Mytilus sp. (Shore mussels) Toxins Alexandrium tamarense/ catenella Carcinus maenus sp. (Green crab) Karenia sp. Polychaete

“Arctic program” – Leak detection/MOAB project 2012-2015 What microbial assemblage is there ? Can microbial diversity change tell us about the presence of oil in seawater and ESP detect key early-players in situ ?

RCN GENOMAPE (Petromaks 2) 2016-2019 What do they do?

RCN ISMOTOOL (Havbruk 2) 2017-2019 Address environmental challenges raised by intensive fish production in open sea and use ESP for early-warning detection (1) fish pathogen (amoebic gill disease AGD) and parasite (salmon lice) in the water column (2) escaped farmed fish (eDNA of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout) eDNA field operation with ESP Laboratory work and eDNA q-PCR bench assays

eDNA – the next big thing in marine biodiversity? DNAqua-Net: Developing new genetic tools for bioassessment and monitoring of aquatic ecosystems in Europe Norway to contribute significantly to this global effort through the Norwegian barcoding initiative (NorBOL) eDNA analysis is fast becoming an important tool in the hunt of biodiversity and multi-species inventory On-going work in IRIS to contribute significantly to provide new innovative genetic tools for marine monitoring and sustainable management of anthropogenic activities.

Thank you all for attention Special thanks to Syliva Earle for her dedication to the sea !