O uso do DNA ambiental (eDNA) e da geoquímica orgânica na prospecção de paleo-pinguineiras na Ilha Rei George/Peninsula Antártica

Abstract

Antarctica is known as the driest and coldest place on the planet. Due to its extremes in relation to climate, habitat and biogeography, the Antarctic region presents itself as an important open-air laboratory for various research related to fundamental life processes that present global implications. One of the main approaches employed for this type of study is related to the recent advancement of molecular technologies, with the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) as a valuable tool for prospecting and evaluating problems related to biodiversity. For example, in monitoring species of interest, since it enables the investigation of phenomena and recent processes as well as the temporal monitoring of theeffects of climate change on the populations of these species. As a sensitive species to climate change the Antarctic penguin species becomes an important taxon to be observedin monitoring the effects of climate change in Antarctica. However, few studies have been successful in extracting eDNA from Antarctic vertebrates, leaving a gap in the literature. In the present study, we performed a literature review of how vertebrate eDNA is used in the Arctic and how techniques employed in the North may influence the future of Antarctic eDNA research. The study also compared changes in the amount of bacterial eDNA found in lake sediment samples with fluctuations in biogeochemical markers and with other penguin population surveys already published in the literature. To test the potential of usingeDNA in the biomonitoring of Antarctic vertebrate species we obtained the first vertebrate sequences extracted from Antarctic soil samples, successfully identifying the species Pysgocelis adeliae through the COX 1 region of the mitochondrial genome