Potential efficacy of mitochondrial genes for animal DNA barcoding: a case study using eutherian mammals.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A well-informed choice of genetic locus is central to the efficacy of DNA barcoding. Current DNA barcoding in animals involves the use of the 5' half of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 gene (CO1) to diagnose and delimit species. However, there is no compelling a priori reason for the exclusive focus on this region, and it has been shown that it performs poorly for certain animal groups. To explore alternative mitochondrial barcoding regions, we compared the efficacy of the universal CO1 barcoding region with the other mitochondrial protein-coding genes in eutherian mammals. Four criteria were used for this comparison: the number of recovered species, sequence variability within and between species, resolution to taxonomic levels above that of species, and the degr

SUBMITTER: Luo A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3042414 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature