Researchers develop global timber tree barcoding library

In a study published in Molecular Ecology Resources, researchers from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their collaborators constructed a comprehensive barcode library using four commonly used barcodes, representing 1,550 commercially traded timber species from China and internationally. "The database includes many novel sequences that will enrich existing timber barcode databases for tropical and subtropical evergreen timber trees in China," said Prof. Li Jie, principal investigator of the study. The researchers assessed the efficiency of four DNA barcode loci to help resolve the identity of threatened timber species from the Red List of Chinese Higher Plants. Overall, they found ITS2 is the best single marker for Chinese timber species, but the barcode combination matK+trnH-psbA+ITS2 exhibited more discrimination power to distinguish between closely related species in the dataset covering diverse internationally traded timber species. "The development of timber species barcode reference libraries provides a valuable source for several applications, including forestry management and policing, ecological investigations, and biodiversity conservation," said Li Jie. More information: Jian‐Lin Hu et al, Assessing candidate DNA barcodes for Chinese and internationally traded timber species, Molecular Ecology Resources. Citation: Researchers develop global timber tree barcoding library retrieved 17 November 2021 from https://phys. org/news/2021-11-global-timber-tree-barcoding-library.