Environmental DNA analysis of risk species to enter the Dead Sea through the Red Sea-Dead Sea water conveyance.

The Dead Sea is an extremely hypersaline stressful environment where only extremophiles species like Archaea, Bacteria, and fungi can survive. The Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance (RDSC) proposes to construct a pipeline of 180 kms to import water from the Red Sea in the shrinking Dead Sea. Both seas exhibit extremely different hydrographic features that determine their biodiversity. Using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding and amplifying a fragment of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) from 1L water samples, a comparison of the living communities of the Red Sea and the Dead Sea was conducted to understand the potential impact of the water conveyance project on biodiversity. The results suggest a high likelihood of acquiring harmful algae into the Dead Sea. This study alerts about the real risk of losing the unique Dead Sea biota when the conveyance is actually undertaken.