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Environmental DNA (eDNA): A Promising Biological Survey Tool for Aquatic Species Detection

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Abstract

Aquatic species are facing at higher risk of extinction similar to that of any other living components of diversified ecosystem in present scenario. So that, the conservation of aquatic biodiversity is much more important to know about the accurate information regarding species composition and their biological community interactions. Generally, traditional survey methods depend on physical identification and characterization of species but it has some sorts of challenging chances due to the phenotypic plasticity, sibling species, different stages of life cycle and its invasiveness. To overcome such barriers one of the significant and promising tool likewise environmental DNA (eDNA), which way the collection of genetic materials from bulk environment (i.e. soil, water, sediment etc.) circuitously from organisms has been used to monitor and analyzed the biodiversity status, invasive species along with the species of conservation category. Recently, the real application of eDNA analysis based outcomes uphold the actual emerging know how practices in support of the population and community ecology, conservation biology as well as in the superior field of taxonomical research. Such scientific appraisal will be useful in understanding the brief history of aquatic eDNA and obviously its methodological considerations, gentle sources, collection and analysis process, physical form, its persistence and proper transport in aquatic ecosystem. Moreover, the fruitful drives for summarization the discoveries of eDNA application and method over traditional technique, its recent challenges and examine the current and future frontiers along with the appropriate practices of aquatic eDNA relevancy in aquatic ecosystem.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are highly thankful to University Grants Commission (Ref. No.831 344156), Science and Engineering Research Board (Project file No Ref. No. PDF/2016/001776), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India for financial assistance to carried out the research work.

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  1. Debabrata Senapati and Manojit Bhattacharya have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aquaculture Management and Technology, Centre For Aquaculture Research, Extension and Livelihood, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, West Bengal, 721102, India

    Debabrata Senapati, Avijit Kar, Deep Sankar Chini & Bidhan Chandra Patra

  2. ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700 120, India

    Manojit Bhattacharya & Basanta Kumar Das

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  1. Debabrata Senapati
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Senapati, D., Bhattacharya, M., Kar, A. et al. Environmental DNA (eDNA): A Promising Biological Survey Tool for Aquatic Species Detection. Proc Zool Soc 72, 211–228 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-018-0268-9

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