title: Carrion fly-derived DNA as a tool for comprehensive and cost-effective assessment of mammalian biodiversity.
abstract: Large-scale monitoring schemes are essential in assessing global mammalian biodiversity, and in this framework, leeches have recently been promoted as an indirect source of DNA from terrestrial mammal species. Carrion feeding flies are ubiquitous and can be expected to feed on many vertebrate carcasses. Hence, we tested whether fly-derived DNA analysis may also serve as a novel tool for mammalian diversity surveys. We screened DNA extracted from 201 carrion flies collected in tropical habitats of Côte d'Ivoire and Madagascar for mammal DNA using multiple PCR systems and retrieved DNA sequences from a diverse set of species (22 in Côte d'Ivoire, four in Madagascar) exploiting distinct forest strata and displaying a broad range of body sizes. Deep sequencing of amplicons generated from pools of flies performed equally well as individual sequencing approaches. We conclude that the analysis of fly-derived DNA can be implemented in a very rapid and cost-effective manner and will give a relatively unbiased picture of local mammal diversity. Carrion flies therefore represent an extraordinary and thus far unexploited resource of mammal DNA, which will probably prove useful for future inventories of wild mammal communities.
authors.affiliation: Emerging Zoonoses, Robert Koch Institute, Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Germany. calvignacs@rki.de
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calvignac-Spencer
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Merkel
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kutzner
authors.forename: Hjalmar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kühl
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boesch
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Kappeler
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Metzger
authors.forename: Grit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.forename: Fabian H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Leendertz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods; D007560:Cote d'Ivoire; D004247:DNA / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004175:Diptera / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D008270:Madagascar; D008322:Mammals / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004247:DNA