Towards writing the encyclopaedia of life: an introduction to DNA barcoding

Abstract

An international consortium of major natural history museums, herbaria and other organizations has launched an ambitious project, the 'Barcode of Life Initiative', to promote a process enabling the rapid and inexpensive identification of the estimated 10 million species on Earth. DNA barcoding is a diagnostic technique in which short DNA sequence(s) can be used for species identification. The first international scientific conference on Barcoding of Life was held at the Natural History Museum in London in February 2005, and here we review the scientific challenges discussed during this conference and in previous publications. Although still controversial, the scientific benefits of DNA barcoding include: (i) enabling species identification, including any life stage or fragment, (ii) facilitating species discoveries based on cluster analyses of gene sequences (e.g. cox1ZCO1, in animals), (iii) promoting development of handheld DNA sequencing technology that can be applied in the field for biodiversity inventories and (iv) providing insight into the diversity of life.

Prospects for fungus identification usingCO1DNA barcodes, withPenicilliumas a test case

“…The concept of DNA barcoding proposes that effective, broad spectrum identification systems can be based on sequence diversity in short, standardized gene regions (7)(8)(9). To date, this premise has been tested most extensively in the animal kingdom, where a 648-bp region of the cytochrome c oxidase 1 (CO1) gene consistently delivered species-level resolution in more than 95% of taxa from test sets of different animal lineages (10)(11)(12).…”

DNA barcodes: Genes, genomics, and bioinformatics

“…DNA barcoding (a tool for rapid species identification based on DNA sequences) and genomics (which compares entire genome structure and expression) share an emphasis on largescale genetic data acquisition that offers new answers to questions previously beyond the reach of traditional disciplines. DNA barcodes consist of a standardized short sequence of DNA (400-800 bp) that in principle should be easily generated and characterized for all species on the planet (1). A massive on-line digital library of barcodes will serve as a standard to which the DNA barcode sequence of an unidentified sample from the forest, garden, or market can be matched.…”

The 16S rRNA gene in the study of marine microbial communities

“…In another study analyzing samples from the human gut and deep-sea vents, differences were observed in the diversity found for the 16S rRNA regions used: 42 taxa were detected in the V3 region and only 26 in the V6 region (Huse et al 2008). excelente marcador molecular y se han planteado nuevas estrategias de estudio, aprovechando las bondades de las nuevas técnicas genómicas (Savolainen et al 2005, Tanabe y Toju 2013. Debido a la rápida generación de información genómica y a la caracterización de las secuencias del ARNr 16S, en los últimos años se ha observado un cambio significativo en los métodos para la identificación de especies bacterianas y una aceleración en la asignación de especies.…”