| Universal
DNA Barcode Proposed for Plants
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".
Source: SciDev.Net
Date: 10 August 2009
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