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Ανάλυση περιβαλλοντικού DNA (Bachelor thesis)

Kisara, Giolena/ Κισάρα, Γκιολένα

Fish represent an important part of the vertebrates on the entire planet and are of great importance to mankind. Environmental DNA (eDNA), which is a biological footprint for an ecosystem, is widely used to monitor the biodiversity of aquatic habitats and biosecurity of the species. In this research, species-specific primers are designed for three economically valuable species of fish that belong to the well-known family of Sparidae and are found in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean: Pagellus erythrinus, Pagellus bogaraveo, Lithognathus mormyrus. Using the ultra-sensitive method of quantitative PCR (Real-Time PCR), primer pairs for each species were tested in order to optimize the qPCR conditions and achieve the maximum possible sensitivity and specificity. The ultimate goal is to construct primer sets capable of detecting the species of interest versus related species from both fish tissue and water samples. These specific primers can have a variety of applications from identifying and recording fish stocks to verifying the identity of fish in markets.