Soft Computing Based Assessment of Potential Dna Barcodes Using Cpdna Sequences for Identification of Plant Species

Abstract

DNA Barcoding Is A Technique That Can Be Used For Species Identification With The Help Of A Small Hypervariable Region Of DNA Sequence Known As DNA Barcode. This Technique Has Become Fast, Economic And Accurate Method For Discovering New Plant Species And Identification Of Existing Ones. Short Segment Of Mitochondrial Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit 1 (COI) Gene Has Been Considered As Universal Barcode For Identification Of Animal Species. Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) Region Of Nuclear Genome Can Be Considered As Universal DNA Barcode For Identification Of Fungi. However, For Plants, Finding A Robust And Effective Barcode Has Been Difficult As No Single Region Is Sufficient To Discriminate Among Different Species. Few Coding And Non Coding Regions Of Chloroplast Genomes And ITS Region Of Nuclear Genome Have Been Tested For Their Ability To Identify Plant Species While Other Regions Of Genome Are Still Left To Be Explored For Their Suitability As Potential DNA Barcodes. With The Availability Of Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequences Of Large Number Of Plant Species At National Centre For Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Database, It Is Now Possible To Search Whole Chloroplast Genomes Of Different Families For Identification Of Hypervariable Regions Which Could Act As Potential DNA Barcodes. newline