10/08/09

Universal DNA barcode proposed for plants

Ready and waiting: now that a barcode has been agreed, tree species can be more easily identified Copyright: Flickr/tauntingpanda

By: Wu Chong

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Universal DNA barcode proposed for plants</h1>
<h4>By: Wu Chong</h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p><span>An international team of scientists has agreed on a DNA ‘barcode’ for the identification of plant species, paving the way for the tracking and safeguarding of biodiversity in the developing world.</span></p>
<p><span>Researchers have been working for years to identify a stretch of plant DNA that is common to all plants but sufficiently difference for each species to allow identification. A barcode for animals was agreed in 2003. </span></p>
<p><span>Last week (4 August), 52 scientists from ten countries proposed the combined use of two genes </span>—<span> rbcL and matK. They made their recommendations in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.</span></p>
<p><span>James S. Miller, dean and vice president for science at the New York Botanical Garden, which is collecting barcode data from ten regions of the world, told SciDev.Net that plant genes are less variable between species than animal genes are, making it more challenging to differentiate between species.</span></p>
<p><span>The researchers compared the effectiveness of using seven genes to identify plants. They found that a combination of rbcL and matK could identify a species in 72 per cent of cases and determine the species group in the remaining samples.</span></p>
<p><span>"These genes aren’t perfect, but they’re a start," says Miller. </span></p>
<p><span>Miller says a universal plant barcode will have many uses </span><span>— from cataloguing and preserving biodiversity to tracking</span> illegal logging.</p>
<p><span>"Scientists can also use the barcode to advance our knowledge in plant biology," he adds. "And this will impact developing countries where the vast majority of trees are."</span></p>
<p><span>Eldredge Bermingham, director and senior scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, doubts a perfect barcode will be found but says the new standard barcode is a significant development. </span></p>
<p><span>It will enable scientists to compare research results and will be a tool for student biologists in the developing world to understand the origins and distribution of plants, he says.</span></p>
<p><span>What is needed now, says Bermingham, is for researchers to "go out and start collecting data".</span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/106/31/12794.full" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to article in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em></a></span></p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/universal-dna-barcode-proposed-for-plants/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/global/news/universal-dna-barcode-proposed-for-plants/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

An international team of scientists has agreed on a DNA ‘barcode’ for the identification of plant species, paving the way for the tracking and safeguarding of biodiversity in the developing world.

Researchers have been working for years to identify a stretch of plant DNA that is common to all plants but sufficiently difference for each species to allow identification. A barcode for animals was agreed in 2003.

Last week (4 August), 52 scientists from ten countries proposed the combined use of two genes — rbcL and matK. They made their recommendations in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

James S. Miller, dean and vice president for science at the New York Botanical Garden, which is collecting barcode data from ten regions of the world, told SciDev.Net that plant genes are less variable between species than animal genes are, making it more challenging to differentiate between species.

The researchers compared the effectiveness of using seven genes to identify plants. They found that a combination of rbcL and matK could identify a species in 72 per cent of cases and determine the species group in the remaining samples.

"These genes aren’t perfect, but they’re a start," says Miller.

Miller says a universal plant barcode will have many uses — from cataloguing and preserving biodiversity to tracking illegal logging.

"Scientists can also use the barcode to advance our knowledge in plant biology," he adds. "And this will impact developing countries where the vast majority of trees are."

Eldredge Bermingham, director and senior scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, doubts a perfect barcode will be found but says the new standard barcode is a significant development.

It will enable scientists to compare research results and will be a tool for student biologists in the developing world to understand the origins and distribution of plants, he says.

What is needed now, says Bermingham, is for researchers to "go out and start collecting data".

Link to article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences