Developing methods for diet DNA metabarcoding: do we need to worry about surface contamination?

Recent lab PhD recipient Ana Miller-ter Kuile collaborated with EEMB graduate student Austen Apigo and Dr. Young to explore whether surface contamination alters diet DNA metabarcoding results from small-bodied invertebrates on Palmyra Atoll. 

August 13, 2021
A Heteropoda venatoria spider eats a gecko (Lepidodactylus sp) on Palmyra Atoll. Photo by Katherine Plummer.
A Heteropoda venatoria spider eats a gecko (Lepidodactylus sp) on Palmyra Atoll. Photo by Katherine Plummer.