A real-world test for Samplify's novel PCR-free metabarcoding approach paves the way to protect Colombia's frog fauna

It was only in 2024 as Samplifylab scientists had cracked the code how to circumvent PCR by using the faster and field-deployable Recombinase Polymerase Amplification for the first time for metabarcoding applications.

Now, together with an international team, we have brought our new method to the rain and cloud forests of northern Colombia. Using PCR-free metabarcoding with Nanopore sequencing, not only did we untangle frog communities of the isolated Sierra Nevada mountains. We even combined our tools with parallel non-invasive barcoding of these elusive creatures. With a new bioinformatic pipeline that works fully offline, we were able to significantly improve the accuracy of taxonomic annotation from Nanopore sequences. A major step forward for simplifying environmental DNA. Now, our study A field-deployable eDNA metabarcoding workflow including de novo reference assembly for characterizing understudied biodiversity hotspots was published open access in Molecular Ecology Resources.

Ready to simplify and enrich your ways of assessing biodiversity? Contact a Samplifylab scientist today to learn more about custom research, field-lab equipment and the already available metabarcoding services.