Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Studienzentrum Naturkunde, Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria.
PLoS One. 2020 Mar 12;15(3):e0229353. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229353. eCollection 2020.
In the last few years, DNA barcoding became an established method for species identification in biodiversity inventories and monitoring studies. Such studies depend on the access to a comprehensive reference data base, covering all relevant taxa. Here we present a comprehensive DNA barcode inventory of all amphibian and reptile species native to Austria, except for the putatively extinct Vipera ursinii rakosiensis and Lissotriton helveticus, which has been only recently reported for the very western edge of Austria. A total of 194 DNA barcodes were generated in the framework of the Austrian Barcode of Life (ABOL) initiative. Species identification via DNA barcodes was successful for most species, except for the hybridogenetic species complex of water frogs (Pelophylax spp.) and the crested newts (Triturus spp.), in areas of sympatry. However, DNA barcoding also proved powerful in detecting deep conspecific lineages, e.g. within Natrix natrix or the wall lizard (Podarcis muralis), resulting in more than one Barcode Index Number (BIN) per species. Moreover, DNA barcodes revealed the presence of Natrix helvetica, which has been elevated to species level only recently, and genetic signatures of the Italian water frog Pelophylax bergeri in Western Austria for the first time. Comparison to previously published DNA barcoding data of European amphibians and reptiles corroborated the results of the Austrian data but also revealed certain peculiarities, underlining the particular strengths and in the case of the genus Pelophylax also the limitations of DNA barcoding. Consequently, DNA barcoding is not only powerful for species identification of all life stages of most Austrian amphibian and reptile species, but also for the detection of new species, the monitoring of gene flow or the presence of alien populations and/or species. Thus, DNA barcoding and the data generated in this study may serve both scientific and national or even transnational conservation purposes.
在过去的几年中，DNA 条码已成为生物多样性清查和监测研究中物种鉴定的一种既定方法。此类研究依赖于获取全面的参考数据库，涵盖所有相关分类单元。本文呈现了奥地利本土所有两栖和爬行动物物种的综合 DNA 条码清单，不包括假定已灭绝的 Vipera ursinii rakosiensis 和 Lissotriton helveticus，后者最近才在奥地利最西部边缘地区被报道。总共在奥地利生命条码倡议（ABOL）框架内生成了 194 个 DNA 条码。通过 DNA 条码进行的物种鉴定对于大多数物种都是成功的，除了水蛙（Pelophylax spp.）和蝾螈（Triturus spp.）的杂交种复合体，在同域地区。然而，DNA 条码在检测同种的深系方面也非常强大，例如在 Natrix natrix 或壁蜥（Podarcis muralis）中，导致每个物种有多个条码索引编号（BIN）。此外，DNA 条码揭示了 Helvetica 蝾螈的存在，该物种最近才被提升为物种水平，并且首次在奥地利西部发现了意大利水蛙 Pelophylax bergeri 的遗传特征。与以前发表的欧洲两栖动物和爬行动物 DNA 条码数据的比较证实了奥地利数据的结果，但也揭示了某些特殊性，突出了 DNA 条码的特殊优势，在 Pelophylax 属的情况下也突出了其局限性。因此，DNA 条码不仅可以用于鉴定大多数奥地利两栖动物和爬行动物物种的所有生命阶段的物种，还可以用于检测新物种、监测基因流或外来种群和/或物种的存在。因此，DNA 条码及其在本研究中生成的数据既可以用于科学目的，也可以用于国家甚至跨国保护目的。
