Wales to barcode all flowering plantsBarcode Wales project targets 1,143 native species
Wales is aiming to be the first country to produce a DNA barcode for every one of its native flowering plants.
BBC Earth News reported that the Barcode Wales project aims to use DNA barcodes catalogue all 1,143 species of native flowering plant “for biodiversity conservation and to improve peoples' lives”.
The Barcode Wales project is led by Dr Natasha de Vere (National Botanic Garden of Wales), Professor Mike Wilkinson (Aberystwyth University) and Dr Tim Rich (National Museum Wales).
Team members use herbarium specimens from the National Museum Wales and the National Botanic Garden of Wales for most of its barcoding, as these are convenient to use and already verified. They also collect new specimens from plant species throughout Wales and the UK.
For each species, three specimens barcoded, allowing researchers to spot errors and also to identify any variation within species in the barcode sequences.
.The barcodes are uploaded to Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) along with the voucher information and a scan of the herbarium specimen. Once the project is complete, visitors to BOLD will be able to view and download all of the barcode information.
More reading:
