Green algae (Viridiplantae) in sediments from three lakes on Vega Island, Antarctica, assessed using DNA metabarcoding.

BACKGROUND Vega Island is located off the eastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (Maritime Antarctica), in the Weddell Sea. In this study, we used metabarcoding to investigate green algal DNA sequence diversity present in sediments from three lakes on Vega Island (Esmeralda, Copepodo, and Pan Negro Lakes). METHODS AND RESULTS Total DNA was extracted and the internal transcribed spacer 2 region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA was used as a DNA barcode for molecular identification. Green algae were represented by sequences representing 78 taxa belonging to Phylum Chlorophyta, of which 32% have not previously been recorded from Antarctica. Sediment from Pan Negro Lake generated the highest number of DNA reads (11,205), followed by Esmeralda (9085) and Copepodo (1595) Lakes. Esmeralda Lake was the richest in terms of number of taxa (59), with Copepodo and Pan Negro Lakes having 30 taxa each. Bray-Curtis dissimilarity among lakes was high (~ 0.80). The Order Chlamydomonadales (Chlorophyceae) gave the highest contribution in terms of numbers of taxa and DNA reads in all lakes. The most abundant taxon was Chlorococcum microstigmatum. CONCLUSIONS The study confirms the utility of DNA metabarcoding in assessing potential green algal diversity in Antarctic lakes, generating new Antarctic records.