Barcode for plants coming soon

2009/10/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Botanika
• Genetika

The creation of a database of gene sequences for the identification of plant species has led to a breakthrough in the Barcode of Life Consortium (CBOL). Each plant will have a certain sequence, as each food has a barcode.

The 52 experts that make up the consortium's plant team have proposed the need to compare two sequences, rcbL and matK, to differentiate from each other.

For animals, the DNA region to look at is already established, but plants have not yet been selected. This is because it must be quite variable to be able to differentiate from one species to another in terms of its sequence, at the same time it cannot be too variable, since from there it is necessary to know that the individuals of a certain species belong to the same species.

The Plants Committee has published the report prepared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, from which it will make its proposal to the CBOL consortium. The last word is CBOL and they will decide which sequence to take as the standard barcode of the plants.