Bioinformatics applyed to metabarcoding analysis in ichtioplankton samples

• Grant number: 23/04929-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Claudio de Oliveira
• Grantee: Cristina Bernardo
• Supervisor: Filipe José Oliveira Costa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade do Minho (UMinho), Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 20/00538-4 - Identification and characterization of the ichthyoplankton community in the Ribeira de Iguape estuary, São Paulo, Brazil, through DNA metabarcoding, BP.DR

Abstract

Estuaries are used by many fish as breeding, feeding, spawning, and predator protection sites. Knowledge of spawning and recruitment areas, as well as the identification of ichthyoplankton, is essential to understand population dynamics in the environment, in addition to contributing to the protection of ichthyofauna and the management of fishery resources. Since traditional methods of identifying eggs and larvae have limitations, molecular techniques such as DNA barcoding, which uses specific markers, enable the identification of a single species per analysis. As this is a slow and costly technique, DNA metabarcoding, where DNA samples are sequenced and identified en masse, has proven more effective in the process of identifying eggs and larvae. As a result of the large amount of data produced in DNA metabarcoding studies, bioinformatics emerges as an important tool in identifying DNA sequences, generating the most biological and statistical information in a short period of time. Thus, the main objective of this project is to learn and use bioinformatics techniques, which are fundamental in the analysis of metabarcoding data, and consequently generate relevant information for future management and conservation plans of priority areas for maintaining fish in the Ribeira de Iguape River estuary in São Paulo. Furthermore, the development of this work in Dr. Filipe Costa's laboratory will strengthen cooperation between our laboratories. (AU)