Comment

. 2021 Oct;30(19):4601-4605.

doi: 10.1111/mec.15942. Epub 2021 May 25.

Trade-offs between reducing complex terminology and producing accurate interpretations from environmental DNA: Comment on "Environmental DNA: What's behind the term?" by Pawlowski et al., (2020)

Naiara Rodriguez-Ezpeleta¹, Olivier Morissette², Colin W Bean³, Shivakumara Manu⁴, Pritam Banerjee^{5

6}, Anaïs Lacoursière-Roussel⁷, Kingsly C Beng⁸, S Elizabeth Alter⁹, Fabian Roger¹⁰, Luke E Holman¹¹, Kathryn A Stewart¹², Michael T Monaghan^{8

13}, Quentin Mauvisseau¹⁴, Luca Mirimin¹⁵, Owen S Wangensteen¹⁶, Caterina M Antognazza¹⁷, Sarah J Helyar¹⁸, Hugo de Boer¹⁴, Marie-Eve Monchamp¹⁹, Reindert Nijland²⁰, Cathryn L Abbott²¹, Hideyuki Doi²², Matthew A Barnes²³, Matthieu Leray²⁴, Pascal I Hablützel²⁵, Kristy Deiner²⁶

Affiliations

¹ AZTI Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Marine Research, Sukarrieta, Spain.
² Direction de l'expertise sur la Faune Aquatique, Ministère des Forêt de la Faune et des Parcs, Québec, QC, Canada.
³ Scottish Centre for Ecology and the Natural Environment, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
⁴ Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan.
⁷ Government of Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, St. Andrews Biological Station, St. Andrews, NB, Canada.
⁸ Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Department of Biology and Chemistry, California State University Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Centre for Environmental and Climate Research (CEC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
¹¹ School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
¹² Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹³ Institut für Biologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁴ Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
¹⁵ Department of Natural Sciences, School of Science and Computing, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland.
¹⁶ Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
¹⁷ Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
¹⁸ Institute of Global Food Security (IGFS), School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
¹⁹ Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
²⁰ Marine Animal Ecology Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
²¹ Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, BC, Canada.
²² Graduate School of Simulation Studies, University of Hyogo, Kobe, Japan.
²³ Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
²⁴ Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Panama City, Panama.
²⁵ Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Ostend, Belgium.
²⁶ Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

PMID: 34036646
PMCID: PMC8698002
DOI: 10.1111/mec.15942

Comment

Trade-offs between reducing complex terminology and producing accurate interpretations from environmental DNA: Comment on "Environmental DNA: What's behind the term?" by Pawlowski et al., (2020)

Naiara Rodriguez-Ezpeleta et al. Mol Ecol. 2021 Oct.

. 2021 Oct;30(19):4601-4605.

doi: 10.1111/mec.15942. Epub 2021 May 25.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ AZTI Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Marine Research, Sukarrieta, Spain.
² Direction de l'expertise sur la Faune Aquatique, Ministère des Forêt de la Faune et des Parcs, Québec, QC, Canada.
³ Scottish Centre for Ecology and the Natural Environment, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
⁴ Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan.
⁷ Government of Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, St. Andrews Biological Station, St. Andrews, NB, Canada.
⁸ Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Department of Biology and Chemistry, California State University Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Centre for Environmental and Climate Research (CEC), Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
¹¹ School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
¹² Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹³ Institut für Biologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁴ Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
¹⁵ Department of Natural Sciences, School of Science and Computing, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland.
¹⁶ Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
¹⁷ Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
¹⁸ Institute of Global Food Security (IGFS), School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
¹⁹ Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
²⁰ Marine Animal Ecology Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
²¹ Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, BC, Canada.
²² Graduate School of Simulation Studies, University of Hyogo, Kobe, Japan.
²³ Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
²⁴ Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Panama City, Panama.
²⁵ Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Ostend, Belgium.
²⁶ Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

PMID: 34036646
PMCID: PMC8698002
DOI: 10.1111/mec.15942

Abstract

In a recent paper, "Environmental DNA: What's behind the term? Clarifying the terminology and recommendations for its future use in biomonitoring," Pawlowski et al. argue that the term eDNA should be used to refer to the pool of DNA isolated from environmental samples, as opposed to only extra-organismal DNA from macro-organisms. We agree with this view. However, we are concerned that their proposed two-level terminology specifying sampling environment and targeted taxa is overly simplistic and might hinder rather than improve clear communication about environmental DNA and its use in biomonitoring. This terminology is based on categories that are often difficult to assign and uninformative, and it overlooks a fundamental distinction within eDNA: the type of DNA (organismal or extra-organismal) from which ecological interpretations are derived.

Keywords: clear terminology; ecology of eDNA; extra-organismal DNA; organismal DNA.

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Figures

**FIGURE 1**
(a) Types of environmental DNA (organismal and extra‐organismal, including extracellular) with possible sources and approximate size ranges. (b) Illustrative examples of sampling methods with intended captured particle size ranges

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

Environmental versus extra-organismal DNA.
Pawlowski J, Apothéloz-Perret-Gentil L, Altermatt F. Pawlowski J, et al. Mol Ecol. 2021 Oct;30(19):4606-4607. doi: 10.1111/mec.16144. Epub 2021 Sep 9. Mol Ecol. 2021. PMID: 34498334 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Comment on

Environmental DNA: What's behind the term? Clarifying the terminology and recommendations for its future use in biomonitoring.
Pawlowski J, Apothéloz-Perret-Gentil L, Altermatt F. Pawlowski J, et al. Mol Ecol. 2020 Nov;29(22):4258-4264. doi: 10.1111/mec.15643. Epub 2020 Oct 13. Mol Ecol. 2020. PMID: 32966665

References

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Trade-offs between reducing complex terminology and producing accurate interpretations from environmental DNA: Comment on "Environmental DNA: What's behind the term?" by Pawlowski et al., (2020)

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Trade-offs between reducing complex terminology and producing accurate interpretations from environmental DNA: Comment on "Environmental DNA: What's behind the term?" by Pawlowski et al., (2020)

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