Single mitochondrial gene barcodes reliably identify sister-species in diverse clades of birds.

ABSTRACT:

Background

DNA barcoding of life using a standardized COI sequence was proposed as a species identification system, and as a method for detecting putative new species. Previous tests in birds showed that individuals can be correctly assigned to species in ~94% of the cases and suggested a threshold of 10x mean intraspecific difference to detect potential new species. However, these tests were criticized because they were based on a single maternally inherited gene rather than multiple nuclear genes, did not compare phylogenetically identified sister species, and thus likely overestimated the efficacy of DNA barcodes in identifying species.

Results

To test the efficacy of DNA barcodes we compared ~650 bp of COI in 60 sister-species pairs identified in multigene phylogenies fr

SUBMITTER: Tavares ES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2279116 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature