AUTHOR=Yeom Jisu , Park Nayeon , Jeong Raehyuk , Lee Wonchoel 

TITLE=Integrative Description of Cryptic Tigriopus Species From Korea Using MALDI-TOF MS and DNA Barcoding

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.648197

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2021.648197

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=<p>MALDI Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) provides a fast and reliable alternative method for species-level identification of pathogens and various metazoans. Compared to the commonly used mitochondrial cytochrome <italic>c</italic> oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) barcoding, advantages of MALDI-TOF MS are rapid species identifications and low costs. In this study, we used MALDI-TOF MS to determine whether spectra patterns of different species can be used for species identification. We obtained a total of 138 spectra from individual specimens of <italic>Tigriopus</italic>, which were subsequently used for various cluster analyses. Our findings revealed these spectra form three clear clusters with high AU value support. This study validates the viability of MALDI-TOF MS as a methodology for higher-resolution species identification, allowing detection of cryptic species of harpacticoida. In addition, we propose a new species, <italic>Tigriopus koreanus</italic> sp. nov. by utilizing integrative methods such as morphological comparison, mtCOI barcoding, and MALDI-TOF MS.</p>