Evaluating nanopore sequencing on microneedle extracted DNA applied to in situ plant identification through DNA barcoding

In the context of field botanical studies, classical taxonomic identification can be a challenging task requiring profound knowledge of the area's flora and its morphological characteristics. Next-generation sequencing brought promising prospects for DNA-based species identification, but was until recently only applicable in a laboratory setting. Nanopore sequencing now holds the capabilities of NGS in a miniaturized format enabling in situ sequencing. DNA extraction protocols remain however lengthy and difficult to execute in the field. Microneedles (MN) were shown to enable rapid field DNA extraction from plant samples with minimal equipment. We evaluate here the applicability of nanopore sequencing on MN DNA extractions for rapid species identification using a DNA barcoding approach and compare them with standard Qiagen extractions.