Development of quantitative PCR assays for the detection and quantification of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) environmental DNA

To assist in efforts to monitor the distribution and abundance of lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens, a species of conservation concern in Canada and the United States, we developed two quantitative PCR (qPCR) environmental DNA assays targeting the cytochrome c oxidase 1 (COI) and cytochrome b (cyt b) genes. Neither assay amplified DNA from the closely-related shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum, but species-specificity should be tested further. In field and laboratory trials, results from the cyt b assay always corresponded with species presence; the COI assay occasionally yielded false positives. The cyt b assay also showed promise in estimating relative abundance; Ct value (the number of PCR cycles at which DNA detection exceeds the background level) decreased with density in both the field and lab.