DNA barcoding of odonates from the Upper Plata basin: Database creation and genetic diversity estimation

Abstract

We present a DNA barcoding study of Neotropical odonates from the Upper Plata basin, Brazil. A total of 38 species were collected in a transition region of “Cerrado” and Atlantic Forest, both regarded as biological hotspots, and 130 cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcodes were generated for the collected specimens. The distinct gap between intraspecific (0–2%) and interspecific variation (15% and above) in COI, and resulting separation of Barcode Index Numbers (BIN), allowed for successful identification of specimens in 94% of cases. The 6% fail rate was due to a shared BIN between two separate nominal species. DNA barcoding, based on COI, thus seems to be a reliable and efficient tool for identifying Neotropical odonate specimens down to the species level. These results underscore the utility of DNA barcoding to aid specimen identification in diverse biological hotspots, areas that require urgent action regarding taxonomic surveys and biodiversity conservation.

DNA barcoding for identification of anuran species in the central region of South America

“…In the last decades, the field of molecular systematics experienced remarkable progress that led to the development of standardized DNA sequences used for taxonomy (e.g., Koroiva et al, 2017 ; Guimarães et al, 2018 ). Among these genetic tools, we found the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome Oxidase I (mtCOI, Cox 1 or COI), which was first suggested by Hebert and colleagues, as a basis for creating a global species identification system, especially for animals ( Hebert et al, 2003 ; Hebert, Ratnasingham & de Waard, 2003 ).…”

“…This system called “DNA Barcode” or “DNA Barcoding” has gained a lot of attention from the scientific community. Since the article suggesting a standard threshold value of 1% in BOLD system ( Ratnasingham & Hebert, 2007a ), hundreds of papers testing DNA Barcode have been published in prestigious scientific journals, demonstrating the efficiency of this tool for biological identification (e.g Schindel & Miller, 2005 ; Park et al, 2011 ; Koroiva et al, 2017 ; Koroiva et al, 2018 ). In Latin America, the use of DNA Barcoding technique in anurans has been expanded in the last decade.…”

Italian Odonates in the Pandora’s Box: A Comprehensive DNA Barcoding Inventory Shows Taxonomic Warnings at the Holarctic Scale

“…Although most of the morphospecies are diagnosable, the identification performance of this study is lower compared to other odonate DNA barcoding surveys, which have reported up to a 95% success rate (Bergmann et al, 2013). However, all the previous DNA barcoding studies regarding odonates were based on a lower number of specimens and morphospecies (e.g., Bergmann et al, 2013;Kim et al, 2014;Koroiva et al, 2017). Concerning sequence variation within and among morphospecies, the average values obtained in this study are in line with those obtained by Koroiva and Kvist (2018) in their global overview of DNA barcoding of odonates, with the only exception of the mean intraspecific genetic variation in Italian Anisoptera (i.e., 0.33 DS1, 0.59 DS2), which is 4.8 (DS1) -2.7 (DS2) times lower than the global average (i.e., 1.60).…”

Use of DNA analysis of histopathological specimens in species identification for purposes of forensic veterinary medicine

“…The obtained and processed data are stored in a special public BOLD database (20). It is confirmed that 98% of species currently classified can be distinguished using this method (9). Another advantage of DNA barcoding is the possibility of conducting tests on a degraded material (6).…”