How quantitative is metabarcoding: a meta-analytical approach
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In: Molecular Ecology, Vol. 28, No. 2, 01.2019, p. 420-430.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - How quantitative is metabarcoding
T2 - a meta-analytical approach
AU - Lamb, Philip D
AU - Hunter, Ewan
AU - Pinnegar, John K
AU - Creer, Simon
AU - Taylor, Martin I
AU - Davies, Richard G.
N1 - © 2018 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2019/1
Y1 - 2019/1
N2 - Metabarcoding has been used in a range of ecological applications such as taxonomic assignment, dietary analysis, and the analysis of environmental DNA. However, after a decade of use in these applications there is little consensus on the extent to which proportions of reads generated corresponds to the original proportions of species in a community. To quantify our current understanding we conducted a structured review and meta-analysis. The analysis suggests that a weak quantitative relationship may exist between the biomass and sequences produced (slope = 0.52 ±0.34, p<0.01), albeit it with a large degree of uncertainty. None of the tested moderators: sequencing platform type, the number of species used in a trial, or the source of DNA were able to explain the variance. Our current understanding of the factors affecting the quantitative performance of metabarcoding is still limited: additional research is required before metabarcoding can be confidently utilised for quantitative applications. Until then, we advocate the inclusion of mock communities when metabarcoding as this facilitates direct assessment of the quantitative ability of any given study. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
AB - Metabarcoding has been used in a range of ecological applications such as taxonomic assignment, dietary analysis, and the analysis of environmental DNA. However, after a decade of use in these applications there is little consensus on the extent to which proportions of reads generated corresponds to the original proportions of species in a community. To quantify our current understanding we conducted a structured review and meta-analysis. The analysis suggests that a weak quantitative relationship may exist between the biomass and sequences produced (slope = 0.52 ±0.34, p<0.01), albeit it with a large degree of uncertainty. None of the tested moderators: sequencing platform type, the number of species used in a trial, or the source of DNA were able to explain the variance. Our current understanding of the factors affecting the quantitative performance of metabarcoding is still limited: additional research is required before metabarcoding can be confidently utilised for quantitative applications. Until then, we advocate the inclusion of mock communities when metabarcoding as this facilitates direct assessment of the quantitative ability of any given study. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
KW - Biomass
KW - High-throughout sequencing
KW - Meta-analysis
KW - Metabarcoding
KW - next generation sequencing
U2 - 10.1111/mec.14920
DO - 10.1111/mec.14920
M3 - Article
C2 - 30408260
VL - 28
SP - 420
EP - 430
JO - Molecular Ecology
JF - Molecular Ecology
SN - 1365-294X
IS - 2
ER -