AUTHOR=Han Yu-Wei , Duan Dong , Ma Xiong-Feng , Jia Yun , Liu Zhan-Lin , Zhao Gui-Fang , Li Zhong-Hu 

TITLE=Efficient Identification of the Forest Tree Species in Aceraceae Using DNA Barcodes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2016.01707

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2016.01707

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Aceraceae is a large forest tree family that comprises many economically and ecologically important species. However, because interspecific and/or intraspecific morphological variations result from frequent interspecific hybridization and introgression, it is challenging for non-taxonomists to accurately recognize and identify the tree species in Aceraceae based on a traditional approach. DNA barcoding is a powerful tool that has been proposed to accurately distinguish between species. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of three core standard markers (<italic>mat</italic>K, <italic>rbc</italic>L and <italic>ITS</italic>) plus the chloroplast locus <italic>trn</italic>S<italic>-trn</italic>G as Aceraceae barcodes. A total of 231 sequences representing 85 species in this forest family were collected. Of these four barcode markers, the discrimination power was highest for the <italic>ITS</italic> (I) region (50%) and was progressively reduced in the other three chloroplast barcodes <italic>mat</italic>K (M), <italic>trn</italic>S-<italic>trn</italic>G (T) and <italic>rbc</italic>L (R); the discrimination efficiency of the <italic>ITS</italic> marker was also greater than any two-locus combination of chloroplast barcodes. However, the combinations of <italic>ITS</italic> plus single or combined chloroplast barcodes could improve species resolution significantly; T+I (90.5% resolution) and R+M+T+I (90.5% resolution) differentiated the highest portion of species in Aceraceae. Our current results show that the nuclear <italic>ITS</italic> fragment represents a more promising DNA barcode marker than the maternally inherited chloroplast barcodes. The most efficient and economical method to identify tree species in Aceraceae among single or combined DNA barcodes is the combination of T+I (90.5% resolution).</p>