Estimation of micro-biota in the Upo wetland using eukaryotic barcode molecular markers

Biodiversity and the community composition of micro-eukaryotic organisms were investigated in the Upo wetland inKorea using molecular analysis. Molecular identification was performed using cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and smallsubunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA). The genomic DNA was isolated directly from soil samples. The COI and SSU rDNAregions were amplified using universal primers and then sequenced after cloning. In a similarity search of the obtainedsequences with BLAST in the Genbank database, the closely related sequences from NCBI were used to identify theamplified sequences. A total of six eukaryotic groups (Annelida, Arthropoda, Rotifera, Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta, andStramenopiles) with COI and six groups (Annelida, Arthropoda, Rotifera, Alveolata, Fungi, and Apicomplexa) with SSUrDNA genes were determined in the Upo wetland. Among 38 taxa in 20 genera, which are closely related to the amplifiedsequences, 10 genera (50%) were newly reported in Korea and five genera (25%) were shown to be distributed in theUpo wetland. This approach is applicable to the development of an efficient method for monitoring biodiversity withouttraditional taxonomic processes and is expected to produce more accurate results in depositing molecular barcode datain the near future.