Sponsor
This publication was partially developed under AJS’s Science To Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship Assistance Agreement no. FP-91781601-0 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It has not been formally reviewed by the EPA. SPE, ER, JLT, and DB were supported by USDA Grant 2013-33522-21007.
Published In
Environmental Science and Technology
Document Type
Post-Print
Publication Date
7-2018
Subjects
Environmental monitoring, Microbial ecology, Environmental DNA -- Effect of biofilms on
Abstract
The increasing use of environmental DNA (eDNA) for determination of species presence in aquatic ecosystems is an invaluable technique for both ecology as a field and for the management of aquatic ecosystems. We examined the degradation dynamics of fish eDNA using an experimental array of recirculating streams, also using a “nested” primer assay to estimate degradation among eDNA fragment sizes. We introduced eDNA into streams with a range of water velocities (0.1–0.8 m s–1) and substrate biofilm coverage (0–100%) and monitored eDNA concentrations over time (∼10 d) to assess how biophysical conditions influence eDNA persistence. We found that the presence of biofilm significantly increased initial decay rates relative to previous studies conducted in nonflowing microcosms, suggesting important differences in detection and persistence in lentic vs lotic systems. Lastly, by using a nested primer assay that targeted different size eDNA fragments, we found that fragment size altered both the estimated rate constant coefficients, as well as eDNA detectability over time. Larger fragments (>600 bp) were quickly degraded, while shorter fragments (<100 >bp) remained detectable for the entirety of the experiment. When using eDNA as a stream monitoring tool, understanding environmental factors controlling eDNA degradation will be critical for optimizing eDNA sampling strategies.
DOI
10.1021/acs.est.8b01822
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/26685
Citation Details
Shogren, A. J., Tank, J. L., Egan, S. P., August, O., Rosi, E. J., Hanrahan, B. R., ... & Bolster, D. (2018). Water Flow and Biofilm Cover Influence Environmental DNA Detection in Recirculating Streams. Environmental science & technology, 52(15), 8530-8537.
Description
This is the author's version of an article that subsequently appeared in Environmental Science and Technology, volume 52, issue 15. Published by the American Chemical Society.
The version of record may b e found at https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b01822.