Hidden in our pockets: building of a DNA barcode library unveils the first record of Myotis alcathoe for Portugal.

Hugo Rebelo,Pedro Horta,Sónia Ferreira,Pedro Beja,Francisco Amorim,Helena Raposeira,Helena Santos,Vanessa Mata

doi:10.3897/bdj.8.e54479

Abstract

BackgroundThe advent and boom of DNA barcoding technologies have provided a powerful tool for the fields of ecology and systematics. Here, we present the InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: Portuguese Bats (Chiroptera) dataset containing DNA sequences of 63 specimens representing the 25 bat species currently known for continental Portugal. For that, we sequenced tissues samples obtained in a vast array of projects spanning the last two decades.New informationWe added four new Barcoding Index Numbers (BINs) to existing Chiroptera barcodes on BOLD, two belonging to Myotis escalerai, one to Plecotus auritus and the other to Rhinolophus hipposideros. Surprisingly, one of the samples initially identified in the field as Myotis mystacinus turned out to be Myotis alcathoe, which represents the first record of this species for Portugal. The presence of Nyctalus noctula in Portugal was also genetically confirmed for the first time. This case study shows the power and value of DNA barcoding initiatives to unravel new data that may be hidden on biological collections.

Highlights

The barcoding of life is a booming initiative to catalogue worldwide biodiversity (Ratnasingham and Hebert 2007) wherein tens of thousands of species have already been referenced through the sequencing of a fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene
We added four new Barcoding Index Numbers (BINs) to existing Chiroptera barcodes on BOLD, two belonging to Myotis escalerai, one to Plecotus auritus and the other to Rhinolophus hipposideros
One of the samples initially identified in the field as Myotis mystacinus turned out to be Myotis alcathoe, which represents the first record of this species for Portugal

Summary

Background

The advent and boom of DNA barcoding technologies have provided a powerful tool for the fields of ecology and systematics. We present the InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: Portuguese Bats (Chiroptera) dataset containing DNA sequences of 63 specimens representing the 25 bat species currently known for continental Portugal. We added four new Barcoding Index Numbers (BINs) to existing Chiroptera barcodes on BOLD, two belonging to Myotis escalerai, one to Plecotus auritus and the other to. One of the samples initially identified in the field as Myotis mystacinus turned out to be Myotis alcathoe, which represents the first record of this species for Portugal. This case study shows the power and value of DNA barcoding initiatives to unravel new data that may be hidden on biological collections. DNA barcoding, bats, Myotis alcathoe, museum collections, species identification, COI

Introduction

Findings

Sampling methods