Identification of Amazonian trees with DNA barcodes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Large-scale plant diversity inventories are critical to develop informed conservation strategies. However, the workload required for classic taxonomic surveys remains high and is particularly problematic for megadiverse tropical forests.

Methodology/principal findings

Based on a comprehensive census of all trees in two hectares of a tropical forest in French Guiana, we examined whether plant DNA barcoding could contribute to increasing the quality and the pace of tropical plant biodiversity surveys. Of the eight plant DNA markers we tested (rbcLa, rpoC1, rpoB, matK, ycf5, trnL, psbA-trnH, ITS), matK and ITS had a low rate of sequencing success. More critically, none of the plastid markers achieved a rate of correct plant identification greater than 70%, either alo

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2759516 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature