QuickConc Vacuum: A high-sensitive cationic-assisted method for large-volume eDNA concentration and sensitive biodiversity monitoring

Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis enables biodiversity surveys with minimal disturbance to aquatic environment. We previously developed QuickConc to capture eDNA by combining dispersed glass fibers with quaternary ammonium surfactants, but manual processing limited small volumes. Here, we introduce QuickConc Vacuum (QCV), an advanced protocol adapting this cationic-assisted technology for vacuum filtration to process liter-scale samples. We performed comparisons with glass fiber filters (GF) and Sterivex, using aquarium water and field seawater. In aquarium experiments, total eDNA yield positively correlated with volume for all methods, with QCV showing significantly higher total eDNA at 2 L. While species-specific yields showed no significant differences among methods, metabarcoding revealed that QCV and Sterivex detected significantly higher fish-species richness than GF. In field seawater trials, QCV consistently recovered higher eDNA yields and detected significantly more fish species at the 2 L volume compared to other methods. QCV successfully overcomes the volume limitations of the original method while maintaining high eDNA yields, providing a robust solution for high-sensitivity eDNA monitoring in aquatic ecosystems.•QCV is a vacuum-filtration protocol based on the cationic-assisted capture technology using dispersed glass fibers for efficient eDNA binding.•QCV is designed to process liter-scale environmental water samples.