Can carcasses cause environmental nucleic acid pollution? Implications for interpreting environmental RNA/DNA survey results
- 1Kao Corporation
Abstract
Environmental nucleic acid (eRNA and eDNA) metabarcoding is a promising tool for biodiversity assessment as it supports low-cost, noninvasive biological surveys. A critical challenge for eRNA/eDNA analyses is accounting for nucleic acid contamination that can compromise the accuracy of biomonitoring results. The primary aim of the current study was to examine carcasses as potential sources of eRNA/eDNA contamination, a contribution that remains poorly understood. Using Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), we quantified the detectability and persistence of carcass-derived eRNA/eDNA in water through two complementary experiments: (i) a shedding study comparing eRNA/eDNA release from live and dead individuals and (ii) a decay experiment measuring temperature-dependent degradation from 4 to 34 {degrees}C. Dead fish released detectable amounts of both eDNA and eRNA, indicating that eRNA-based surveys cannot fully eliminate carcass-derived signals. Arrhenius-based analysis showed that eRNA degradation was more temperature-dependent than eDNA degradation. These results suggest that eRNA may improve temporal resolution for recent organismal presence under warm conditions, whereas carcass-derived eRNA may persist under cold conditions and complicate interpretation of positive detections. Overall, eRNA may help reduce carcass-related false positives, particularly in warm conditions, but should be paired with temperature-aware sampling strategies and temporal replication during colder periods.
Related
- Analyzing slaughter modalities and environmental factors to improve prediction of Campylobacter concentration in broiler carcasses
- Editorial: Environmental challenges from global warming/climate change, urbanization and pollution to wild birds and poultry
- Interpreting environmental signals from Pleistocene fluvial microvertebrates in the Middle Dnipro (Ukraine): Comparing habitat-weighting and bioclimatic-spectra approaches
- Phylogenetic signal in anteater snout morphology: Implications for interpreting rare vermilinguan fossils
- Air Pollution, Early Adversity, and Amygdala: Environmental Correlates of Psychopathology in Preadolescents
BibTeX
@misc{inoue2026carcasses,
title = {{Can carcasses cause environmental nucleic acid pollution? Implications for interpreting environmental RNA/DNA survey results}},
author = {Y. Inoue and K. Miyata and T. Myosho and M. Yamane and H. Honda},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.08.757455},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757455v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Can carcasses cause environmental nucleic acid pollution? Implications for interpreting environmental RNA/DNA survey results
AU - Y. Inoue
AU - K. Miyata
AU - T. Myosho
AU - M. Yamane
AU - H. Honda
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.08.757455
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757455v1
AB - Environmental nucleic acid (eRNA and eDNA) metabarcoding is a promising tool for biodiversity assessment as it supports low-cost, noninvasive biological surveys. A critical challenge for eRNA/eDNA analyses is accounting for nucleic acid contamination that can compromise the accuracy of biomonitoring results. The primary aim of the current study was to examine carcasses as potential sources of eRNA/eDNA contamination, a contribution that remains poorly understood. Using Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), we quantified the detectability and persistence of carcass-derived eRNA/eDNA in water through two complementary experiments: (i) a shedding study comparing eRNA/eDNA release from live and dead individuals and (ii) a decay experiment measuring temperature-dependent degradation from 4 to 34 {degrees}C. Dead fish released detectable amounts of both eDNA and eRNA, indicating that eRNA-based surveys cannot fully eliminate carcass-derived signals. Arrhenius-based analysis showed that eRNA degradation was more temperature-dependent than eDNA degradation. These results suggest that eRNA may improve temporal resolution for recent organismal presence under warm conditions, whereas carcass-derived eRNA may persist under cold conditions and complicate interpretation of positive detections. Overall, eRNA may help reduce carcass-related false positives, particularly in warm conditions, but should be paired with temperature-aware sampling strategies and temporal replication during colder periods.
ER -