I have read that qPCR will be useful for the quantification step, but I am unsure if I also need to perform a pilot study to see how much DNA is shed from my target species to use this as a reference. Is this necessary? Finally, how do you go about attempting this when your target fish is elusive and protected from fishing -- and will be very difficult to house in a tank.
Factors that affect shedding include time, temp, noise, pH, etc - the list is endless however some excellent publications are available...
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.6b03114?journalCode=esthag 'Quantification of Environmental DNA (eDNA) Shedding and Decay Rates for Three Marine Fish' and http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.12595/full 'Critical considerations for the application of environmental DNA methods to detect aquatic species' are both excellent detailed papers with full reference sections. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320714004443 ' Environmental DNA – An emerging tool in conservation for monitoring past and present biodiversity' covers the potential confounding factors including shedding rate
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Zoology
- Ichthyology
- Vertebrates
- Fish