Effect of DNA input dilutions on detection rates in artificial communities. Mean number of detected OTUs (± range, n = 3) in a chironomid mock community with 16 individuals, using different metabarcoding methods and dilutions (logarithmic scale) of purified DNA extracts (orange) or tissue-water mixes (blue). We tested both the common and the direct PCR approach with (triangles, dark colours) and without (squares, light colours) prior size-sorting.

 
 
  Part of: Röder N, Schwenk K (2023) Direct PCR meets high-throughput sequencing – metabarcoding of chironomid communities without DNA extraction. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e102455. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.102455