Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

Scientific names provide the basic vocabulary and information framework for biodiversity, though their application is difficult when dealing with larval, immature or otherwise fragmentary biological remains. This is not trivial in light of climate change and the increasing globalization of trade, as economic development leads to higher extinction rates and the introduction of invasive and pest species. As a result, local, national and international communities are demanding more and faster species identification services than ever before. A Canadian scientific innovation known as DNA barcoding uses a 648 base-pair sequence at the 5' end of the mitochondria! cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) gene as a standard for animal identification. This gene target is flanked by highly conserved regions that permit the construction of "universal" PCR primers needed to facilitate broad taxonomic application of the method. However, in some cases, researchers have encountered taxon specific patterns of universal primer failure that complicates the construction of the reference sequence library. This is problematic because a comprehensive DNA sequence library is essential for identification with DNA barcodes. In this proposal, we are developing a method for high throughput screening of the CO1 primer regions, which is critical for the success of the international barcode project.