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DNA barcoding the native flowering plants and conifers of wales

Rich, Tim C.G.; Steinke, Dirk; de Vere, Natasha; Ford, Col R.; Trinder, Sarah A.; Long, Charlotte; Moore, Chris W.; Satterthwaite, Danielle; Davies, Helena; Allainguillaume, Joel; Ronca, Sandra; Tatarinova, Tatiana; Garbett, Hannah; Walker, Kevin; Wilkinson, Mike J.

Authors

Tim C.G. Rich

Dirk Steinke

Natasha de Vere

Col R. Ford

Sarah A. Trinder

Charlotte Long

Chris W. Moore

Danielle Satterthwaite

Helena Davies

Sandra Ronca

Tatiana Tatarinova

Hannah Garbett

Kevin Walker

Mike J. Wilkinson



Abstract

We present the first national DNA barcode resource that covers the native flowering plants and conifers for the nation of Wales (1143 species). Using the plant DNA barcode markers rbcL and matK, we have assembled 97.7% coverage for rbcL, 90.2% for matK, and a dual-locus barcode for 89.7% of the native Welsh flora. We have sampled multiple individuals for each species, resulting in 3304 rbcL and 2419 matK sequences. The majority of our samples (85%) are from DNA extracted from herbarium specimens. Recoverability of DNA barcodes is lower using herbarium specimens, compared to freshly collected material, mostly due to lower amplification success, but this is balanced by the increased efficiency of sampling species that have already been collected, identified, and verified by taxonomic experts. The effectiveness of the DNA barcodes for identification (level of discrimination) is assessed using four approaches: the presence of a barcode gap (using pairwise and multiple alignments), formation of monophyletic groups using Neighbour-Joining trees, and sequence similarity in BLASTn searches. These approaches yield similar results, providing relative discrimination levels of 69.4 to 74.9% of all species and 98.6 to 99.8% of genera using both markers. Species discrimination can be further improved using spatially explicit sampling. Mean species discrimination using barcode gap analysis (with a multiple alignment) is 81.6% within 10×10 km squares and 93.3% for 2×2 km squares. Our database of DNA barcodes for Welsh native flowering plants and conifers represents the most complete coverage of any national flora, and offers a valuable platform for a wide range of applications that require accurate species identification. © 2012 de Vere et al.

Citation

Rich, T. C., Steinke, D., de Vere, N., Ford, C. R., Trinder, S. A., Long, C., …Wilkinson, M. J. (2012). DNA barcoding the native flowering plants and conifers of wales. PLoS ONE, 7(6), e37945. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037945

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jun 6, 2012
Deposit Date Sep 11, 2012
Publicly Available Date Feb 11, 2016
Journal PLoS ONE
Electronic ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher Public Library of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 7
Issue 6
Pages e37945
DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037945
Keywords DNA barcoding, flowering plants, conifers, Wales
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/955857
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037945

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