Comparative Evaluation of Common Materials as Passive Samplers of Environmental DNA

Abstract

Environmental DNA (eDNA) technology has revolutionized biomonitoring in recent years; however, eDNA collection from aquatic environments generally relies on the time-consuming and equipment-dependent process of water filtration. Passive eDNA sampling deploys sorbent materials to capture eDNA from water, circumventing many problems associated with active filtration; yet, very few candidate materials have been systematically evaluated for this purpose. Here, we evaluated the ability of 12 different types of common loose sorbents and filter membranes to capture eDNA in laboratory and field experiments compared with conventional water filtration. Glass fiber filters (GF) outperformed all other materials in laboratory experiments with respect to their quantitative capacity to recover amphibian eDNA, with the eDNA yield increasing linearly with submersion time up to 72 h. Furthermore, GF rapidly (within 0.5 h) captured the eDNA of up to 71% of the total fish species in a lake, in addition to detecting the entire fish community by 8 h, as assessed by metabarcoding analysis. Our results demonstrate that GF could passively capture aqueous eDNA with a similar or greater efficiency than conventional methods, thus paving the way for convenient, effective, and eco-friendly eDNA sampling in aquatic environments.

Fishing for fish environmental DNA: Ecological applications, methodological considerations, surveying designs, and ways forward

“…Additionally, several artificial materials have been tested for their abilities to capture eDNA in the water column. These typically include porous substrates (e.g., clay, activated carbon; Kirtane et al, 2020) and filter membranes (e.g., nylon, cellulose ester; Bessey et al, 2021; Chen et al, 2022). Some of these materials have been highly effective at enriching eDNA and can potentially assist eDNA surveys in low fish densities or turbid aquatic habitats (Chen et al, 2022; Kirtane et al, 2020).…”

Fishing eDNA in One of the World’s Largest Rivers: A Case Study of Cross-Sectional and Depth Profile Sampling in the Yangtze

“…Recent progress has been made on automatic large-volume samplers, which may be one solution that could substantially increase the detectability of rare species. 79,80 For example, a filtration capsule has the capacity to filter up to 100 L of water directly on-site. 81 Large-volume sampling methods coupled with robotic platforms (e.g., ships) offer a viable and reliable solution for eDNA biomonitoring in large rivers.…”

“…The large amount of water that is required poses a challenge to current eDNA sampling methods for accurately estimating fish diversities in very large rivers, such as the Yangtze River, thus necessitating further innovation in the field. Recent progress has been made on automatic large-volume samplers, which may be one solution that could substantially increase the detectability of rare species. , For example, a filtration capsule has the capacity to filter up to 100 L of water directly on-site . Large-volume sampling methods coupled with robotic platforms (e.g., ships) offer a viable and reliable solution for eDNA biomonitoring in large rivers …”

Capturing marine microbiomes and environmental DNA: A field sampling guide

“…Passive filtration has recently emerged as a lower-effort approach to eDNA collection (Bessey et al, 2022;Chen et al, 2022). With this method, filters are directly submerged in the water column and eDNA adheres to a membrane over time, bypassing any water pumping altogether.…”