The few Antarctic studies to date to have applied metabarcoding in Antarctica have primarily focused on microorganisms. In this study, for the first time, we apply high-throughput sequencing of environmental DNA to investigate the diversity of Embryophyta (Viridiplantae) DNA present in soil samples from two contrasting locations on Deception Island. The first was a relatively undisturbed site within an Antarctic Specially Protected Area at Crater Lake, and the second was a heavily human-impacted site in Whalers Bay. In samples obtained at Crater Lake, 84% of DNA reads represented fungi, 14% represented Chlorophyta and 2% represented Streptophyta, while at Whalers Bay, 79% of reads represented fungi, 20% represented Chlorophyta and < 1% represented Streptophyta, with ~1% of reads being unassigned. Among the Embryophyta we found 16 plant operational taxonomic units from three Divisions, including one Marchantiophyta, eight Bryophyta and seven Magnoliophyta. Sequences of six taxa were detected at both sampling sites, eight only at Whalers Bay and two only at Crater Lake. All of the Magnoliophyta sequences (flowering plants) represent species that are exotic to Antarctica, with most being plausibly linked to human food sources originating from local national research operator and tourism facilities.

中文翻译：

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使用元条形码探索欺骗岛（南极洲，南设得兰群岛）两个地点土壤中的植物环境 DNA 多样性

迄今为止，在南极洲应用元条形码的少数南极研究主要集中在微生物上。在这项研究中，我们首次应用环境 DNA 的高通量测序来调查来自欺骗岛两个对比位置的土壤样本中存在的胚胎植物 (Viridiplantae) DNA 的多样性。第一个是火山湖南极特别保护区内一个相对未受干扰的地点，第二个是捕鲸者湾的一个受人类严重影响的地点。在火山湖获得的样本中，84% 的 DNA 读数代表真菌，14% 代表绿藻门，2% 代表链藻门，而在 Whalers Bay，79% 的读数代表真菌，20% 代表绿藻门，< 1% 代表链藻门，其中 ~ 1% 的读取未分配。在胚胎植物中，我们发现了来自三个部门的16个植物操作分类单元，包括1个Marchantiophyta，8个Bryophyta和7个Magnoliophyta。在两个采样点都检测到了六个分类群的序列，其中八个仅在 Whalers Bay，两个仅在 Crater Lake。所有 Magnoliophyta 序列（开花植物）都代表了南极洲的外来物种，其中大多数似乎与源自当地国家研究运营商和旅游设施的人类食物来源有关。