Metabarcoding and Metagenomics

🧬🐏 A new DNA marker called OvisCR has recently been developed, which successfully distinguishes domestic sheep from wild European mouflon in predator diet studies.

Read more about it: doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.10.172476

DNA barcoding reference dataset revealed overlooked diversity and clarified biogeography of fishes in the largest European river system – Volga River This study represents the first thorough genetic assessment of freshwater fishes from the Volga River Basin – the longest (3,690 km) river in Europe. DNA barcode sequences (COI) were studied in 84 spe...

The first thorough #genetic assessment of the Volga River Basin is here!

Researchers #barcoded 84 #fish species, discovering 7 species new to the region (incl. 2 invasives) and 3 new phylogenetic lineages. The Kama River is highlighted as a vital #Pleistocene refuge and Arctic faunal corridor. ⤵️

5000 Students run ‘bee hotels’ across Canada – DNA reveals who’s checking in | Blog A study shows students across Canada effectively aid conservation by collecting ecological data through trap nests.

Cc: uofguelph.bsky.social, @nigeleraine.bsky.social

Or alternatively, check out the study featured on @pensoft.net 's blog: blog.pensoft.net/2026/02/23/5...

5,000 #students across Canada help map the secret lives of solitary cavity-nesting #bees and #wasps.

🐝This study used #community #science & #metabarcoding to reveal hidden insect interactions.

👇See what they found here: doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

#citizenscience #hymenoptera

Community DNA outperforms eDNA metabarcoding for biodiversity assessments in the Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone Metabarcoding offers a powerful approach for assessing benthic biodiversity in remote and understudied deep-sea environments. However, the methodological performance of different DNA extraction strate...

See how different #DNA extraction strategies (ComDNA vs. SedDNA) perform for #benthic #meiofauna.

This study assesses these strategies using #metazoan #diversity in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ): doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 (red algae) is hard to classify, but new universal rbcL primer suites developed for Ochrophyta and Rhodophyta, have proven effective for both barcoding and metabarcoding applications for 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 with strong potential in their application to other species: doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

New study sampling West Coast Transient killer whales demonstrates the pertinence of environmental DNA flukeprint sampling for improving understandings of cetacean skin health. Read more here: doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.10.174578

MBMG's 2025 Editor's Choice Award For a third year in a row, Metabarcoding & Genomics has selected its winner for the Editor’s Choice 2025 award.The winning article is: “Surface swabs outperform most traditional honeyb...

🎉Our 2025 Editor's Choice award goes to: "Surface swabs outperform most traditional honeybee (Apis mellifera) hive samples for recovery of eDNA and eRNA" by Erin Hill, Liz Milla, Francisco Encinas-Viso, James O'Dwyer, Ben Gooden, Mariana Hopper, John Roberts.

🔗 mbmg.pensoft.net/news/1075

As 2025 draws to a close, we at Pensoft want to extend our warmest wishes to our editors, reviewers, researchers, partners, and followers. Thank you for being part of our journey this year.

Wishing you all a joyful holiday season and a bright start to the new year! 🎄✨

Day three of #BES2025 is underway! Find us at booth L12 in the Lennox Suite.

Baseline studies on meiofauna in the Baltic Sea before bottom-trawl fisheries exclusion II. A comparative study using multi-gene metabarcoding and morphology Understanding how meiofaunal communities respond to spatial protection measures is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of marine conservation strategies, particularly in heavily impacted region...

This baseline study explores meiofauna diversity in Baltic Sea marine protected areas and adjacent reference areas using multi-gene metabarcoding and morphology - key for tracking trawling ban impacts​.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

@sgn.one

Constraining lake ecology via metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and amplicon sequencing Lake ecosystems are hotspots for important ecosystem functions, yet linking their microbiome to physicochemical parameters remains a challenge. Here, we compare 16S rRNA gene-based amplicon sequencing...

Across 21 European lakes, metagenomes and metatranscriptomes reveal different, method-dependent pictures of microbial diversity and environment links, proving that sequencing choice can alter ecological conclusions.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

@unidue.bsky.social

Barley Rhizosphere Bacteriome Dynamics under Organic and Mineral Inputs: The importance of intercropping predecessor Integrating intercropping with green manure within crop rotation offers a sustainable pathway to enhance soil microbial diversity and overall agroecosystem health. This study evaluated the effects of ...

Integrating legume-based green manure and organic amendments in barley cropping systems enhances rhizosphere microbial diversity and resilience, promoting sustainable soil health and productivity.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

Come to the Pensoft stand at the Kliments' Days 2025 in Sofia, Bulgaria! Our Marketing and Sales manager @maria-kolesnikova.bsky.social is there to welcome you and tell you all about our open-access journals in biodiversity sciences!

A DNA metabarcoding workflow for the detection of terrestrial gastropods from ingested DNA DNA metabarcoding is a powerful approach for assessing biodiversity and unravelling trophic interactions, particularly in the context of biological invasions where introduced predators may impact nati...

A targeted DNA metabarcoding workflow was developed and validated to identify terrestrial gastropods from the digestive contents of the invasive flatworm 𝑂𝑏𝑎𝑚𝑎 𝑛𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑎, revealing diverse prey and improving diet analysis.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

Metabarcoding outperforms traditional electrofishing in decapod and fish inventories, paving the way for enhanced biodiversity monitoring in the Caribbean Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding revolutionized the biodiversity monitoring in aquatic ecosystems, giving access to taxonomic lists in a non-disruptive way. Although the method has limits, such ...

eDNA metabarcoding outperforms traditional electrofishing for monitoring fish and decapod biodiversity in Caribbean freshwater ecosystems, offering a less disruptive, more comprehensive method to detect native and invasive species and assess ecological health.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

Stemflow for detecting mammalian environmental DNA: a case study in a zoo As mammalian diversity declines, effective biodiversity monitoring tools are urgently needed. To address this issue, we assessed the detectability of mammalian environmental DNA (eDNA) using the eDNA ...

Stemflow for detecting mammalian environmental DNA: a case study in a zoo.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/arph...

@mbmg.pensoft.net

DNA barcoding reference dataset revealed overlooked diversity and clarified biogeography of fishes in the largest European river system – Volga River This study represents the first thorough genetic assessment of freshwater fishes from the Volga River basin – the longest (3,690 km) river in Europe. DNA barcode sequences (COI) were studied in ...

DNA barcoding reference dataset revealed overlooked diversity and clarified biogeography of fishes in the largest European river system – Volga River.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/arph...

@mbmg.pensoft.net

Our journal is at #LivingData2025 - looking forward to talking to anyone interested in #metabarcoding and metagenomics!

The design and testing of taxon-specific mini-barcode markers for metabarcoding of marine zooplankton DNA metabarcoding of zooplankton samples is well suited to surveys of marine pelagic ecosystems; however, consistent amplification across zooplankton groups cannot be assumed when using “universal” mi...

Taxon-specific mini-barcode primers greatly improve the detection and biodiversity assessment of key marine zooplankton groups, boosting species representation by up to fivefold.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

Guidance and best practices for species identification using eDNA metabarcoding - When do you call a cod a cod? With the rapid uptake of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding for a wide range of conservation and management uses, there is a growing need for guidance and best practices for species identification...

Guidance and best practices for species identification using eDNA metabarcoding - When do you call a cod a cod?

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/arph...

@mbmg.pensoft.net

Invasive species monitoring based on eDNA multiplex PCR sequencing Invasive species pose a significant threat to global biodiversity and the stability of ecosystems. Although environmental DNA (eDNA)-based quantitative PCR is considered effective, its limited multipl...

Multiplex PCR sequencing represents a powerful and cost-effective tool for simultaneously detecting multiple aquatic invasive species in the early stages of invasion: doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

"Want to start using Nanopore technology to research protistan diversity? Check out our paper introducing a pipeline for creating OTUs from Nanopore metabarcodes — bridging the gap between short- and long-read metabarcoding." - Anna Karnkowska

doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

Surface swabs outperform most traditional honeybee (Apis mellifera) hive samples for recovery of eDNA and eRNA Genetic sampling from European honeybee (Apis mellifera) hives is a promising repository of terrestrial environmental nucleic acids (eNA) from a range of taxonomic sources. eNA samples from honeybee h...

Non-invasive swabbing of hive entrances is a highly effective biomonitoring method for collecting hive eNA and delivering comprehensive surveillance for animal, plant and microbial communities in the environment.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

A 16S rRNA dataset of Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park Wetlands are ecosystems of environmental importance due to their role as biodiversity shelters. However, the intense anthropization of the landscape have propelled a decline in water quality and quant...

A 16S rRNA dataset of Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/arph...

@mbmg.pensoft.net

A comparative analysis of hybridisation capture and PCR-based eDNA metabarcoding for monitoring bryophytes in riparian ecosystems Despite their ecological importance, mosses remain under-represented in ecological studies due to their challenging detection in field surveys and morphological identification, exacerbated by the lack...

Optimised eDNA and PCR-based metabarcoding significantly outperformed hybridisation capture and traditional field surveys for bryophyte detection in river ecosystems.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

From short to long reads: enhanced protist diversity profiling via Nanopore metabarcoding In the last decades, environmental metabarcoding has revolutionised biodiversity research, particularly for microbial organisms such as protists, enabling large-scale assessments of diversity and ecol...

Researchers present the BaNaNA (Barcoding Nanopore Neat Annotator) pipeline and display the effectiveness of long-read Nanopore sequencing for protist biodiversity, ecology and evolution research.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

@ankarn.bsky.social @fabnot.bsky.social

Evaluating the potential of DNA metabarcoding for ecological status assessment under the Water Framework Directive: A case study on benthic invertebrates from Western Carpathian streams Routine biomonitoring under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) follows a conventional methodology primarily based on the morphological identification of taxa within the five biological quality elemen...

DNA metabarcoding identifies more invertebrate species under the Water Framework Directive than conventional methods, showing promise for faster and finer river health monitoring in Slovakia’s Carpathian streams.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

Technology Readiness Level of biodiversity monitoring with molecular methods – where are we on the road to routine implementation? Human activities are causing rapid biodiversity loss across ecosystems, affecting human well-being and crucial ecosystem services. Traditional biodiversity monitoring tools cannot keep up with the inc...

Her study identified key barriers to broader implementation, such as the need for international standards, better quantitative estimates and comprehensive reference libraries.

doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...

Tiina Laamanen @tiinalaamanen.bsky.social cited her MBMG paper on molecular biodiversity monitoring methods as part of her #BGEconnects session on implementing #eDNA and other molecular monitoring methods in Finland!