Eco-AlpsWater project: 12S rRNA sequences determined in mock and environmental samples. Eco-AlpsWater 12S rRNA sequences: an intercalibration exercise

An intercalibration test was performed using fish mock community samples containing tissue-extracted DNA and eDNA collected from aquaculture tanks, and eDNA samples collected from lake Bourget (France). Samples were analysed using a DNA metabarcoding approach, relying on the amplification and HTS of a 12S rRNA gene marker, in two separate laboratories to evaluate if different laboratory and bioinformatic protocols can provide a reliable and comparable description of the fish communities in both mock and environmental samples. Our results highlighted a good replicability of the molecular laboratory protocols for HTS and a good amplification success of the selected primers (MiFish-U), providing essential information concerning the taxonomic resolution of the 12S mitochondrial marker in describing the Alpine fish communities.