Size does matter”– Improvement of High throughput DNA metabarcoding by size & order sorting of malaise trap samples

Using reliably identified DNA barcode sequence data of the German barcode projects and a CUSTOM BLAST approach, we were able to detect a total of 566 Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) within all sorted malaise trap fractions. Analysis of the unsorted fraction revealed 48% less recovered BINs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a combination of inexpensive “low depth” sequenced size pre-sorted fractions will result in higher BIN recovery than application of expensive “high depth” sequencing with (960,000 reads) for analysis of an unsorted sample.