Comparison of materials for rapid passive collection of environmental DNA

Abstract

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is a sensitive, noninvasive and broadly applicable tool for species detection (Deiner et al., 2017;Taberlet et al., 2018). It has been used for a range of applications, including biodiversity measurement and biosecurity surveillance (Taberlet et al., 2018). Organisms shed their DNA into the air, soil and water, which can be sampled by collecting, extracting, amplifying and sequencing, and ultimately identified by comparing against a reference database of known DNA sequences (Taberlet

Comparative Evaluation of Common Materials as Passive Samplers of Environmental DNA

“…Many adsorbent materials have the potential for use as PEDS; however, some of these materials are expensive, difficult to produce or handle, or not easily available (such as custom-made materials, powdered substances, and 3D-printed objects), limiting their broad applicability. Commercial filter membranes represent ideal choices for use as PEDS, since they are readily available, consistently manufactured, subjected to quality control measures, sealed in sterile packaging, inexpensive (∼1.3 USD per piece for GF; Table S2), and easy to handle and deploy in challenging environments.…”

“…To broaden the application range of PEDS and improve standardization, various artificial materials have been evaluated for their passive eDNA sampling capacity, including porous substances (e.g., montmorillonite clay and granular activated carbon) and filter membranes (e.g., nylon and cellulose ester filters), which have shown a range of abilities. Although some of the studied artificial materials may have the potential for use as PEDS, most studies have only assessed a small number (1–2) of candidate materials, ,, some of which are custom-made and not easily available, , which limits their broad applicability.…”

Gravity filtration of environmental DNA: A simple, fast, and power-free method

“…In this study, we developed a novel portable gravity filtration system for eDNA surveys, which allows users to filter a 1 L water samples within a short duration (10–60 min) in any remote location. This report explain detail, the gravity filtering system, the main purpose of which is to recover environmental DNA at this stage, but see Bessey et al [6] for other passive filtration methods.…”

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.…”