MycoRant

DNA. It’s the “code of life.” Could there be a “bar code of life” useful for rapidly identifying and differentiating species? Sequencing large stretches of DNA, or entire genomes, can take some time and cost some money, although the time and cost are rapidly getting smaller. What if there were two, maybe three, alleles or short sequences of any kind (they need need not be parts of actual genes) that could be sequenced to give a reliable species identification?

That’s a lot of “what ifs.” It works pretty well for animals, less so for plants. It will probably work for everything in the end. A key to success will be the availability of PCR primers to use in amplifying the chosen sequences from any fungus.

According to the CBS Fungal Diversity Center, “The term DNA barcoding was coined by Paul Hebert in 2003. The general idea was to create, and create fast, a simple, unified species identification system based on DNA sequence data. An international consortium (CBoL, Consortium for the Barcode of Life) was formed to come up with binding suggestions as what markers and protocols would be accepted for DNA barcoding and to act as mediator between the DNA barcoding community and other parties, i.e. GenBank, potential users, or technology developers. A coordinated approach in the DNA barcoding of fungi (or any other group of organisms) requires the careful selection and agreement upon a suitable marker region. ITS region of the ribosomal DNA has been widely used as a marker in fungal studies, but additional marker regions are needed for many groups of fungi, as the ITS region does not provide sufficient resolution at the species level.”

If interested in the topic, you might want to keep an eye on All Fungi Barcoding.

For a readable general introduction see DNA Barcode Initiative.

Some technical publications and initiatives:

Progress toward DNA barcoding the vast diversity of fungi

Towards barcode markers in Fungi: an intron map of Ascomycota mitochondria

Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding: Fungi

Assessing the effect of varying sequence length on DNA barcoding of fungi

Prospects for fungus identification using CO1 DNA barcodes, with Penicillium as a test case

Aspergillus DNA barcoding-Progress so far

Can we barcode the fungi?

Although it's a good idea, this is not the kind of barcode we are talking about

Tags: DNA Barcode, genomics, identification