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Species-specific PCR discrimination of species of the calanoid copepod Pseudocalanus, P. acuspes and P. elongatus, in the Baltic and North Seas

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Abstract

Two species of the calanoid copepod Pseudocalanus, P. acuspes and P. elongatus, have been reported from the Baltic and North Seas. Morphometric analysis based on Frost (Can J Zool 67:525–551, 1989) did not identify the species in samples collected during the German GLOBEC program; the majority of measurements fell outside reported ranges for Baltic and North Sea specimens. A multiplexed species-specific PCR (SS-PCR) protocol was designed from a ~700 bp sequence of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI), with primers designed to amplify regions of different sizes for the two species to allow detection by gel electrophoresis. The accuracy and reliability of the multiplexed SS-PCR reaction was confirmed by sequencing the mtCOI region. Preliminary SS-PCR analysis of geographic distributions of the two species indicated that P. acuspes occurred exclusively at sampling sites in the Baltic Sea, whereas P. elongatus was found in the southern North Sea and at one site in the Baltic. The SS-PCR protocol can be used for routine identification of the two species for studies of population, community and ecosystem dynamics.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ulrike Holst (AWI) for help with length measurements and Lisa M. Nigro (University of Connecticut) for technical assistance. Special thanks go to Uwe John (AWI) for support with the molecular biological work. The study was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the GLOBEC GERMANY project. It is a contribution to the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) and the Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ, see www.CMarZ.org), an ocean realm field project of the Census of Marine Life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, PO Box 120161, 27515, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Sabine Grabbert & Hans-Jürgen Hirche

  2. Research Institute Senckenberg, German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Jasmin Renz

  3. Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, CT, 06340, USA

    Ann Bucklin

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  1. Sabine Grabbert
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  2. Jasmin Renz
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  3. Hans-Jürgen Hirche
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  4. Ann Bucklin
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Correspondence to Jasmin Renz.

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Handling editor: D. J. Lonsdale

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Grabbert, S., Renz, J., Hirche, HJ. et al. Species-specific PCR discrimination of species of the calanoid copepod Pseudocalanus, P. acuspes and P. elongatus, in the Baltic and North Seas. Hydrobiologia 652, 289–297 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0360-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0360-2

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