title: Molecular evidence for the predation of Critically Endangered endemic Aphanius transgrediens from the stomach contents of world wide invasive Gambusia affinis.
abstract: Predation and competition among native and invasive species are difficult to study in aquatic environments. Identification of preys from semi-digested body parts sampled from stomach contents of the predator is very challenging. Recent studies were mainly based on use of DNA extracted from stomach content to identify the prey species. This study presents the molecular evidence that reveals the predation of critically endangered Aphanius transgrediens by world-wide invasive Gambusia affinis for a better understanding of the link between the invasion and the extinction of native species in freshwater ecosystems. DNA samples were extracted from semi-digested stomach contents of the invader and short fragments of mitochondrial NADH1 gene were amplified using species-specific primers designed in this study to make identification at species level. Existence of both the prey and the predator species were also confirmed using environmental DNA extracted from water samples.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture , Ankara University Agricultural Faculty , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Emre
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Keskin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003532:Cyprinodontiformes; D056727:Endangered Species; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020387:Food Chain; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial / Q000502:physiology*; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics; D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000235:genetics; D013270:Stomach
chemical_list: D029941:Fish Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D012313:RNA; D012343:RNA, Transfer
keywords: Diet analysis; NADH1; eDNA; freshwater; molecular identification