2020 Volume 25 Issue 1 Article ID: 1914
A primer set was developed for detecting environmental DNA (eDNA) of an endangered medium-sized marine mammal, Dugong dugon. We designed a species-specific primer set (target gene: 138 bp of cytochrome b region) for the dugong in silico. We examined the efficiency and specificity of the primer set using DNA derived from hair roots and faeces of the dugong, and water samples collected from an aquarium where a female dugong had been reared. Artificially synthesised DNA and water samples from an aquarium of the most closely related species (African manatee) were also used for reference. By real-time quantitative PCR using SYBR-Green I, DNA was successfully amplified from the dugong samples, whereas manatee DNA was not amplified. These results show the designed primer set to be adequately efficient and specific. These results suggest that eDNA analysis can be an effective tool in surveys of the dugong in combination with conventional methods. The range of distribution of the dugong can be re-examined using eDNA analysis to implement more effective conservation strategies.
