Implications and Utility of DNA Barcoding

Abstract

Classical way of practicing taxonomy is in endangered race in the era of genomics. In recent years taxonomy became fashionable that is owing to the revolutionary approaches in taxonomy called DNA barcoding. It is a novel approach that has generated optimism in enhancing biodiversity assessments. In DNA barcoding, complete data can be retrieved from a single specimen regardless of life stage or morphological characters. The core idea behind the DNA barcoding is the fact of minor variation in highly conserved region of DNA during the evolution within the species. Sequences have successfully been utilized for DNA barcoding which include cytoplasmic mitochondrial DNA (cox1), chloroplast DNA (trnL-F, matK, ndhF, atpB and rbcL) and nuclear DNA (ITS and housekeeping genes). Now it has been used for diverse applications such as biodiversity assessment, life history and ecological studies, forensic analysis and many more. In this chapter, we discuss the significance and utility of DNA barcoding in various fields.