DNA metabarcoding for assessing chironomid diversity under Bti influence

In this study we applied state of the art DNA metabarcoding to the chironomid emergence collection from to assess the chironomid species composition under Bti influence. Recent field studies demonstrated that chironomid abundances were significantly reduced by 41-68% due to mosquito control actions with the biocide Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti). Thus, to further assess potential ecological consequences of a Bti-induced chironomid abundance reduction, the chironomid communities need to be assessed to a higher taxonomic resolution. However, since chironomid morphology beyond subfamily level is highly demanding, community metabarcoding has been proven to be an efficient tool to assess chironomid species diversity.