About the Canadian Marine DNA Library

The Canadian Marine DNA Library is a mitochondrial DNA sequence repository for environmental DNA (eDNA) applications.

All living organisms shed DNA into their environment. The technology of environmental DNA or eDNA has revolutionized the way we identify and track organisms. In just a cup of water we can detect anything from snails to whales if they have recently been in the vicinity.

Maintaining and conserving biodiversity is essential to continued life on earth. The use of eDNA technology is becoming more important in how we move forward with managing biodiversity loss. In order to make eDNA technology management ready, reference sequence databases need to become standardized and quality driven.

Three pillars of reference DNA sequence libraries: Environmental DNA practitioners and managers need complete, accurate, and accessible genetic sequence reference databases to efficiently plan surveys and analyze data. The three pillars of reference sequence databases are described here:

Complete: We need databases to be complete, in two senses of the word. Complete taxonomic coverage. First, we want to be able to detect everyone and we also want confidence in our assignment that it is the species we say and not a close relative that is missing from the database. This will fill the needs of multiple applications, and multiple end users.

We also want complete gene representation, which hasn’t been widely recognized as a standard for reference databases but is important because when it comes to species resolution we know that one size doesn’t fit all. So when we think about multiple applications across many end users, having all mitochondrial genes available for designing or assessing markers and then for assignment, really supports fitness-for-purpose.

Quality Assured: eDNA practitioners want to know that every species in the library is who they say they are. This enables us to be confident in species assignments and importantly we can translate this confidence to non-scientists when we need have a management action based on eDNA results. All of the sequences in the Canadian Marine DNA Library are traceable to vouchered specimens with permanent records in public institutions and associated minimum metadata.

Accessible: The Canadian Marine DNA Library website presents data in a customizable, visual, interactive, and user friendly way. This also includes access to data and specimen provenance. Increasing accessibility increases uptake because specialists and non-specialists have easy access to create customized libraries.

The primary objective of the CaMDL website is to provide a platform for eDNA practitioners to build custom reference libraries to suit their specific needs. Users of the website are rest assured that all genetic data contained here adheres to the three pillars of reference sequence databases described above.

How to build your custom reference library:

1. Navigate to the page “Search the CaMDL databases”
2. Fill in the search criteria to meet the needs of your study. The only required fields are “Genetic Data” (e.g. choose what gene you want to download) and “Specimen Collection Information” (e.g. choose the Province and/or State in which you are working and adjacent).
3. Search results are displayed on a new page. You can then refine results using any of the search criteria on the left hand side.
4. Click on the records you want to keep (or click all at the top).
5. Download the custom reference dataset that you just created using the two buttons at the bottom. The fasta file is a fasta formatted file that can easily be converted to any format needed by the user for multiple applications (e.g. in silico PCR, taxonomic assignment of OTUs or ESVs, etc). The metadata file is a csv formatted document with all metadata associated with each record downloaded. The metadata is standardized and several terms are required for all database entries. See ‘Resources’ page for a template of the database fields and metadata explanations. You will need to reference the metadata explanations to understand each metadata term.

The mission of the Canadian Marine DNA Library is to create a long term and complete database of curated genetic data to support eDNA applications across Canada and beyond. This is a collaboration between Hakai Institute and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

We envision cataloging the mitogenomes of all marine life across Canada’s three oceans to support the effective use of eDNA for management. This goal requires many users to get involved. In the future, you will be able to submit your sequences to CaMDL. Watch this space for guidelines on how to sample marine organisms and generate mitogenome sequences that meet CaMDL’s requirements.

CaMDL is part of a larger project that has been endorsed by the United Nations Decade of the Ocean for Sustainable Development.

Marine Biodiversity Library & MPA eDNA monitoring (Marine Biodiversity Library & MPA eDNA monitoring – Ocean Biomolecular Observing Network (OBON) (obon-ocean.org))

Biodiversity monitoring is a core tenet of conservation management and Canada’s conservation commitments. Canada has established a series of guidelines for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that emphasize the need for non-destructive, multi-species survey methods. Environmental (e)DNA metabarcoding is revolutionizing the field of biomonitoring. This project has initiated eDNA biomonitoring in MPAs and areas of interest in Canada’s Pacific and Atlantic regions to collect baseline data on species diversity and distributions. High quality and accessible reference DNA sequences are critical for the effectiveness of eDNA as a biomonitoring tool. This project is building a Canadian Marine DNA Library of expertly curated and high quality DNA reference sequences to support the uptake of eDNA results for science-based advice. Pairing the reference library with MPA biomonitoring surveys accelerates eDNA operationalization and supports Canada as a global leader in ocean conservation.

Water sampling for eDNA in the proposed Northern Shelf Bioregion MPA Network in the traditional territories of the Gitga’at, Haisla, Gitxaała, and Kitasoo/Xai’xais Nations on the north-central coast of British Columbia, Canada. Panel A shows the CCGS Vector, Panel B shows the SBE 55 ECO mini-rosette water sampler, and Panel C shows the gravity-fed water filtration method.

Dr. Kristen Westfall, Research Scientist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Dr. Westfall leads a Conservation Genomics lab at DFO. Her research focuses on building capacity for large scale assessment of biodiversity and biomonitoring across diverse marine habitats for conservation and management applications, including marine species at risk, invasive species, and commercially relevant species. She is focused on large scale data management and increasing the standardization and competency of DNA-based observations, including reference DNA sequences.

Please reach out if you want to collaborate or have feedback on how we can improve CaMDL.