Quantifying the Relative Abundance of the Invasive Species Neogobius melanostomus throughout the French Creek Watershed via an Environmental DNA Analysis

Conners, Eric

Quantifying the Relative Abundance of the Invasive Species Neogobius melanostomus throughout the French Creek Watershed via an Environmental DNA Analysis

Persistent URL

http://hdl.handle.net/10456/41549

Author(s)

Conners, Eric

Date Issued

May 3, 2016

Abstract

Recently, environmental DNA (eDNA) studies have emerged as an efficient and reliable method of detecting and quantifying the presence rare aquatic organisms, such as aquatic invasive species (AIS). One AIS, the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), has proliferated throughout the Great Lakes region and has recently been sighted within the French Creek watershed (Waterford, PA). In this study, water samples from three locations within the watershed were analyzed for the presence of round goby eDNA. Additionally, negative controls were prepared to test for cross-contamination, while positive controls were analyzed to ensure the efficacy of the protocol. Quantitative PCR failed to amplify the target gene fragment in all environmental samples. Positive controls were successfully amplified and four negative controls exhibited evidence for the presence of round goby DNA. Thus, this study presents no molecular evidence for the organism’s presence in the watershed. This is likely the result of false-negatives, as direct observation contradicts this conclusion. These false-negatives are likely due to insufficient concentrations of the target marker in the samples, degradation of the target marker in the environment, or poor project design. Future studies should investigate these variables in order to optimize the eDNA protocol.

Major

Biology

First Reader(s)

Webb, Kristen