Assay List

A list of species-specific assays for eDNA analysis can be found at https://labs.wsu.edu/edna/edna-assays. Assays listed are probe-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays, including published and unpublished assays. This list does not include conventional PCR assays, primers for metabarcoding, or more general qPCR assays developed as positive controls. Some species have multiple assays available in the literature.

Many labs are also running currently unpublished assays. Some of these can be found at https://www.fs.fed.us/research/genomics-center/edna/ (western North American fishes) and https://labs.wsu.edu/goldberglab (western North American amphibians). Another resource for finding out who is working on what is at http://edna.fisheries.org/.

In addition, DNAqua-Net is evaluating the validation of hundreds of assays using the new eDNA validation scale. Their in-progress list of validated assays can be found at https://edna-validation.com/.

Note: Assays designed for one locality may create false negatives or false positives when applied to another part of a species’ range if the validation wasn’t conducted globally. Additionally, errors might occur if PCR enzymes or thermoprofile are changed. All assays should be re-validated with tissue samples when using them under new conditions. Additionally, probe melting temperature is linked to probe chemistry and often particular fluorophores are only available with particular proprietary chemistries (e.g., MGB).