Haplotyping cryptic Adélie penguin taxa using low-cost, high-resolution melt curves

Distinguishing morphologically cryptic taxa, by definition, requires genetic data such as DNA sequences. However, DNA sequences may not be obtained easily for taxa from remote sites. Here we provide the details of a high-resolution melt-curve-based method using taxon-specific primers that can distinguish two taxa of Adélie penguins, and that will be usable in Antarctica when combined with some of the newly developed field-deployable thermal cyclers. We suggest that the wider adoption of field-deployable polymerase-chain-reaction-based techniques will enable faster assignation of haplotype to individuals in situ, and so allow the targeting of observations and sample collection to specimens relevant to the research question. Targeting individuals will also reduce the need to repeatedly handle animals and reduce the time and travel required to complete field work.

从定义上来说，区分形态隐存分类群（morphologically cryptic taxa）需要诸如DNA序列这类遗传数据。然而，对于来自偏远采样点的分类群而言，获取DNA序列并非易事。本研究详细介绍了一种基于高分辨率熔解曲线（high-resolution melt-curve-based method）的方法：该方法采用分类群特异性引物（taxon-specific primers），可区分两种阿德利企鹅（Adélie penguins），且配合部分新研发的野外可部署热循环仪（field-deployable thermal cyclers）后，可在南极地区使用。我们认为，更广泛地应用基于聚合酶链式反应（polymerase-chain-reaction）的野外可部署技术，将能够在野外现场更快完成个体单倍型（haplotype）的归属鉴定，从而可将观测与样本采集的目标锁定为与研究问题相关的标本。精准选取目标个体，还可减少对动物的重复抓捕与处理次数，同时缩短野外工作所需的时间与行程成本。