Development of new methods in molecular biodiversity research

A key focus of our research is to improve existing molecular techniques for analyzing population processes or mapping species communities—that is, to make them faster, more robust, and therefore more reliable. We are also implementing new ideas for assessing biodiversity patterns from the species to the community level. Examples include novel eDNA-based methods, specialized DNA metabarcoding primers, and new software for analyzing high-throughput data.

The standardization of methods for use in routine governmental work is a key focus in several projects, particularly for DNA metabarcoding.

Publications:

Macher, JN, Zizka, V., Weigand, AM, Leese, F., 2017. A simple centrifugation protocol for metagenomic studies increases mitochondrial DNA yield by two orders of magnitude. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12937

Zizka, VMA, Elbrecht, V., Macher, JN, Leese, F., 2019. Assessing the influence of sample tagging and library preparation on DNA metabarcoding. Molecular Ecology Resources 19, 893–899. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13018

Zizka, VMA, Leese, F., Peinert, B., Geiger, MF, 2018. DNA metabarcoding from sample fixative as a quick and voucher-preserving biodiversity assessment method. Genomes 62, 122–136. https://doi.org/10.1139/gen-2018-0048

Timm, H., Weigand, H., Weiss, M., Leese, F., Rahmann, S., 2018. DDRAGE: A Dataset Generator to Evaluate ddRADseq Analysis Software. Molecular Ecology Resources 18, 681–690. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12743

Weigand, H., Leese, F., 2018. Detecting signatures of positive selection in non-model species using genomic data. Zool J Linn Soc 184, 528–583. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zly007

Buchner, D., Leese, F., 2020. BOLDigger – a Python package to identify and organize sequences with the Barcode of Life Data systems. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 4, e53535. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.4.53535