Closely-related taxa influence woody species discrimination via DNA barcoding: Evidence from global forest dynamics plots

Nancai Pei, David L. Erickson, Bufeng Chen, Xuejun Ge, Xiangcheng Mi, Nathan G. Swenson, Jin Long Zhang, Frank A. Jones, Chun Lin Huang, Wanhui Ye, Zhanqing Hao, Chang Fu Hsieh, Shawn Lum, Norman A. Bourg, John D. Parker, Jess K. Zimmerman, William J. McShea, Ida C. Lopez, I. Fang Sun, Stuart J. DaviesKeping Ma, W. John Kress

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

To determine how well DNA barcodes from the chloroplast region perform in forest dynamics plots (FDPs) from global CTFS-ForestGEO network, we analyzed DNA barcoding sequences of 1277 plant species from a wide phylogenetic range (3 FDPs in tropics, 5 in subtropics and 5 in temperate zone) and compared the rates of species discrimination (RSD). We quantified RSD by two DNA barcode combinations (rbcL + matK and rbcL + matK + trnH-psbA) using a monophyly-based method (GARLI). We defined two indexes of closely-related taxa (G m/G t and S/G ratios) and correlated these ratios with RSD. The combination of rbcL + matK averagely discriminated 88.65%, 83.84% and 72.51% at the local, regional and global scales, respectively. An additional locus trnH-psbA increased RSD by 2.87%, 1.49% and 3.58% correspondingly. RSD varied along a latitudinal gradient and were negatively correlated with ratios of closely-related taxa. Successes of species discrimination generally depend on scales in global FDPs. We suggested that the combination of rbcL + matK + trnH-psbA is currently applicable for DNA barcoding-based phylogenetic studies on forest communities.

Original languageEnglish
Article number15127
JournalScientific Reports
Volume5
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 Oct 2015
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Closely-related taxa influence woody species discrimination via DNA barcoding: Evidence from global forest dynamics plots'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this