Different DNA Barcoding Techniques in Forensic Botany: A Review

Abstract

After a through literature review it was found that significant supporting evidences can be obtained through forensic botany in the course of criminal investigations. Nevertheless, this field of inquiry remains underutilized, as its most prevalent use is restricted to the identification of specific and suspected illicit plants. Plant evidences gathered at the crime scene could be a crucial piece in gathering information such as the suspect's route tracing, establishing links between crime scenes and suspects, examining alibis, identification of a narcotic plant and identifying rare or endangered species, determination of geographic locations of plant varieties etc. Conventional morphological attributes prove inadequate for the identification and species-level differentiation of numerous plant materials in instances where botanical specimens are degraded and devoid of physical characteristics. Because of this reason there is a need to rely on molecular techniques where identification will be solely based on analysis of the nucleotide sequences of the genome of the plants. Several studies have demonstrated the successful use of chloroplast DNA and its various barocode regions for taxon/species level identification of the different botanic evidences. Coding and non-coding regions of plastosome like rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA, trnL-trnF and their multiple combinations have helped in identifying Santalum species, Paphiopedilum species, Aloe species, woody plants and medicinal herbaceous plants. The technique of DNA barcoding is efficient, rapid, and precise when it comes to identifying plant species by examining the base sequences found in the genome (chloroplast, mitochondria or nuclear genome). In this review article we have collected manuscripts on application of DNA barcoding using chloroplast DNA barcode regions for species identification in plants.