Comparative studies on species identification of Noctuoidea moths in two nature reserve conservation zones (Beijing, China) using DNA barcodes and thin‐film biosensor chips

Abstract

Rapid and accurate identification of species is required for the biological control of pest Noctuoidea moths. DNA barcodes and thin-film biosensor chips are two molecular approaches that have gained wide attention. Here, we compare these two methods for the identification of a limited number of Noctuoidea moth species. Based on the commonly used mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I (the standard DNA barcode for animal species), 14 probes were designed and synthesized for 14 species shared by two national nature reserves in Beijing and Hebei, China. Probes ranged in length from 18 to 27 bp and were designed as mismatch probes to guarantee that there were at least three base differences between the probe and nontarget sequences. The results on the chip could be detected by the naked eye without needing special equipment. No cross-hybridizations were detected although we tested all probes on the 14 target and 24 nontarget Noctuoidea species. The neighbour-joining tree of the 38 species based on COI sequences gave 38 highly supported independent groups. Both DNA barcoding and thin-film biosensor chips, based on the COI gene, are able to accurately identify and discriminate the 14 targeted moth species in this study. Because of its speed, high accuracy and low cost, the thin-film biosensor chip is a very practical means of species identification. Now, a more comprehensive chip will be developed for the identification of additional Noctuoidea moths for pest control and ecological protection.

Identifying species of moths (Lepidoptera) from Baihua Mountain, Beijing, China, using DNA barcodes

“…Biochips enable researchers to quickly screen large numbers of biological analyses for a variety of purposes and the diagnostic character information may be better to design a probe of biochips (Yang et al. ). And thus the character‐based method play an important role in pest control, customs, and quarantine.…”

“…However, in small data sets, the character-based approach is very effective and hence can be used, for example, to develop biochips for rapid species identification. Biochips enable researchers to quickly screen large numbers of biological analyses for a variety of purposes (Yang et al 2014), and the character-based method can thus play an important role in pest control, customs, and quarantine.…”

“…The character-based method, while perhaps not as useful for species identification in large data sets, could be used to develop biochips for rapid identification of species in the small data sets. Biochips enable researchers to quickly screen large numbers of biological analyses for a variety of purposes and the diagnostic character information may be better to design a probe of biochips (Yang et al 2014). And thus the character-based method play an important role in pest control, customs, and quarantine.…”

A high‐throughput detection method for invasive fruit fly (Diptera:Tephritidae) species based on microfluidic dynamic array

“…The experimental set up is simple, with a time to result of approximately 2.5 h excluding DNA extraction, and it is also quicker than other chip‐based method, such as thin‐film biosensor chip which needs 4 h to identify 14 Noctuoidea species (Yang et al . ).…”

“…More primers and probes design with different gene markers for every species, genus and family will help to increase a chip's ability to identify species, genus and family (Yang et al . ). The primer and probe design methods in this study and microfluidic dynamic array also can be applied to more other fruit fly species and other taxon group high‐throughput identification.…”