Optimised DNA isolation from marine sponges for natural sampler DNA (nsDNA) metabarcoding

Harper, L. R.; Neave, E. F.; Sellers, G. S.; Cunnington, A. V.; Arias, M. B.; Craggs, J.; MacDonald, B.; Riesgo, A.; Mariani, S.

doi:10.1101/2022.07.11.499619

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.07.11.499619

Optimised DNA isolation from marine sponges for natural sampler DNA (nsDNA) metabarcoding

Harper, L. R.·Neave, E. F.·Sellers, G. S.·Cunnington, A. V.·Arias, M. B.·Craggs, J.·MacDonald, B.·Riesgo, A.·Mariani, S.

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Marine sponges have recently been recognised as natural samplers of environmental DNA (eDNA) due to their effective water filtration and their ubiquitous, sessile and regenerative nature. However, laboratory workflows for metabarcoding of sponge tissue have not been optimised to ensure that these natural samplers achieve their full potential for community survey. We used a phased approach to investigate the influence of DNA isolation procedures on the biodiversity information recovered from sponges. In Phase 1, we compared three treatments of residual ethanol preservative in sponge tissue alongside five DNA extraction protocols. The results of Phase 1 informed which ethanol treatment and DNA extraction protocol should be used in Phase 2, where we assessed the effect of starting tissue mass on extraction success and whether homogenisation of sponge tissue is required. Phase 1 results indicated that ethanol preservative may contain unique and/or additional biodiversity information to that present in sponge tissue, but blotting tissue dry generally recovered more taxa and generated more sequence reads from the wild sponge species. Tissue extraction protocols performed best in terms of DNA concentration, taxon richness and proportional read counts, but the non-commercial tissue protocol was selected for Phase 2 due to cost-efficiency and greater recovery of target taxa. In Phase 2 overall, we found that homogenisation may not be required for sponge tissue and more starting material does not necessarily improve taxon detection. These results combined provide an optimised DNA isolation procedure for sponges to enhance marine biodiversity assessment using natural sampler DNA metabarcoding.

Explore related subjects

molecular biology Preprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Harper, L. R., Neave, E. F., Sellers, G. S., Cunnington, A. V., Arias, M. B., Craggs, J., MacDonald, B., Riesgo, A., Mariani, S.. 2022-07-11. Optimised DNA isolation from marine sponges for natural sampler DNA (nsDNA) metabarcoding. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.11.499619

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

A G-Quadruplex Containing First Intron Harbors a Functional Polyadenylation Signal in TP53

First introns of mammalian genes are often longer than other introns and may contain regulatory elements, suggesting that they may have roles in gene regulation. We detected a previously unannotated, low abundance intronic transcript, TP53-INT1, using long-read direct RNA sequencing data. TP53-INT1 has low coding potential and terminates within the first and longest intron of TP53. The transcript structure and 3'-end were validated by independent experimental and in silico evidence. We identified a canonical polyadenylation signal upstream of the transcript termination site and demonstrated its functionality using reporter assays. Furthermore, a potential G-quadruplex (G4)-forming sequence was identified upstream of this polyadenylation signal. The G4-forming potential was confirmed using spectroscopic and thermal stability analyses. Complementing the in vitro characterizations, treatment with Pyridostatin, a G4-stabilizing drug, was associated with decreased TP53 expression. Together, these findings characterize a previously unannotated TP53 intronic transcript and reveal a local genomic context combining accessible chromatin, a functional polyadenylation signal, and a potential G4-forming sequence that may influence full-length transcription.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2026

An architectural RNA builds a reaction crucible through molecular concentration and activated enzyme selection

Architectural RNAs (arcRNAs) scaffold membraneless organelles (MLOs), yet how they organize functional proteins remains unclear. Nuclear stress bodies (nSBs), MLOs scaffolded by HSATIII arcRNAs, incorporate SRSFs during stress. During stress recovery, nSBs function as reaction crucibles that recruit the kinase CLK1 to accelerate SRSF rephosphorylation and normalize stress-induced splicing. Here, we identify the ASAP complex as a recruitment factor that recognizes Ser341-phosphorylated, catalytically activated CLK1. HSATIII-bound SRSFs recruit ASAP, assembling a platform for CLK1 recruitment. Biochemical reconstitution reveals that this platform enhances SRSF phosphorylation by concentrating SRSFs and CLK1 while selectively recruiting activated CLK1, establishing nSB reaction crucibles as molecular concentrators and selectors. The SRSF-ASAP-CLK1 interaction network is conserved between humans and mice, suggesting that primate-specific HSATIII arcRNAs co-opted this pre-existing network to establish reaction-crucible function in nSBs. Our findings reveal how arcRNAs organize functional proteins through quantitative enrichment and qualitative selection to build biochemically active MLOs.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Adult-like thick-filament protein stoichiometry in immature human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes

Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) retain immature sarcomeric isoforms, raising questions about their ability to recapitulate the protein stoichiometry of adult human myocardium. We integrated two independent quantitative proteomic datasets of iPSC-CMs with published fetal and region-resolved adult human heart proteomes to compare sarcomeric protein abundance. Although iPSC-CMs clustered with fetal heart based on their global shared proteome and retained fetal troponin I expression, key thick-filament protein ratios closely matched those of adult myocardium. Myosin heavy-to-light chain ratios approached the expected 2:4 stoichiometry, while myosin-binding protein abundance relative to myosin heavy chains was comparable across iPSC-CMs and adult cardiac regions. These findings reveal that developmental immaturity in sarcomeric isoform expression does not entail altered thick-filament protein proportions. Preservation of adult-like myosin-binding protein stoichiometry supports the use of iPSC-CMs to investigate sarcomeric diseases associated with altered protein dosage, particularly MYBPC3-associated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

molecular biology↗