NDFF Environmental DNA

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a DNA-based research method used to establish the presence of a species in samples. The underlying principle is that all organisms living in water emit DNA via skin cells, faeces and urine. The presence of a target species can be established by collecting water samples and analysing them for DNA in a laboratory. Research has shown that DNA dissolves in water within 2 to 3 weeks. When a water sample indicates the presence of DNA of a species, this means habitation must have been recent. Detection is carried out via a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in a laboratory , using species-specific primers. In all cases, a large number (8 to 12) of PCR reactions are carried out on each sample (replica samples). The number of reactions that indicate a positive result for the DNA of the target species indicates how much DNA the sample contains. The amount of DNA is causally related to the occurrence of the target species, but there are many factors that affect the disintegration and production of eDNA. Dataset available via https://www.ndff.nl/english / [e-mail] Positive observations without zeros. 1,340 records (March 2018) NDFF protocol https://www.ndff.nl/overdendff/validatie/protocollen/10-002-environmental-dna-onderzoek/