DNA Barcoding is Popular New Method for Species Identification

DNA barcoding can be useful for conservation and understanding species evolution. Now, scientists are using it for species identification. The new method is both reliable and cost-effective, and it could help with future studies.

You wouldn't think that identifying species would be difficult, but sometimes it can be. For example, palms belonging to the genius Phoenix, including the economically-important date palm Phoenix dactylifera, are some of the most difficult species of flowering plants to differentiate based on their appearance. Not only that, but these species can easily hybridize, which generates even more confusion for palm scientists.

That's why the researchers decided to turn to DNA barcoding. They first examined a small region of chloroplast DNA, looking for a potential "barcode" for this group of plants. In all, they screened over 130 palm individuals from 13 out of 14 species of the genus Phoenix. They eventually found enough variation in the composition of the DNA to be able to correctly identify eight species out of 13, and more than 82 percent of the individuals.

"It's a very encouraging result," said Marco Ballardini, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Finding the appropriate DNA barcode for Phoenix palms has several practical applications, ranging from the conservation of endemic and/or endangered species, like the Canary Island date palm, or the Cretan date palm, to the identification of hybrids having an ornamental value."

The findings are important not just for the identification of palm individuals at the species level, though. They could be used to preserve genetic characteristics by detecting hybrids. In addition, the fruit quality of cultivated stocks could be preserved and even improved with the use of this new method.

"To achieve a 100 percent success in identifying Phoenix palms, we have to analyze a few more regions of DNA, especially in the case of closely related species," said Ballardini in a news release. "Moreover, as the chloroplast DNA is inherited only through the maternal lineage, DNA of paternal origin should also be taken into consideration in order to detect all possible hybrids."

The findings are published in the journal ZooKeys.