Ethanol and sodium acetate as a preservation method to delay degradation of environmental DNA: Data

This data contains environmental DNA (eDNA) sample assay results that were collected from water samples taken from a tank housing Asian carp and placed either on ice or at room temperature. At both treatment temperatures, water samples were left untreated or were treated with an ethanol and sodium acetate solution (EtOH-NaAc). This was done to evaluate an ethanol and sodium acetate solution to maintain the integrity of the DNA samples for the time between collection and lab testing. Every day for 6 days following collection, a subset of the samples was removed from each treatment and DNA was extracted and nuclear and mitochondrial markers were assayed with qPCR. Results showed comparable persistence of DNA between untreated iced samples and samples that received EtOH-NaAc treatment that were kept at room temperature. The data showed that DNA can be amplified from samples preserved using an EtOH-NaAc solution after at least seven days at room temperature.