DNA Barcoding: Promise and Pitfalls

By Craig Moritz, Carla Cicero. PLoS Biology, 2004

1,003 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In this issue of PLoS Biology, Hebert et al. (2004) have set out to test the resolution and performance of “DNA barcoding,” using a single mtDNA gene, cytochrome c oxidase I (COI), for a sample of North American birds. Before turning to details of this study, it is useful as context to consider the following questions: What is DNA barcoding, and what does it promise? What is new about it? Why is it controversial? What are the potential pitfalls?

Subfields: Genetics, Molecular Biology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4a36dd07edfe9256254830a44df30500d0b77138

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Citations in the corpus

Need morphology always be required for new species descriptions (2010, background): “These are three quite different, but related, activities and it is important to recognise the distinctions among them (e.g. see Moritz and Cicero 2004).”
Molecular and morphological methods for identifying plankton: what makes a successful marriage? (2009, background): “Criticisms of the barcoding approach, some of which have already led to changes in the way it is done, include the fact that there probably is not a single gene that is appropriate for barcoding all organisms, and that rates of change in a locus may be heterogeneous within or between clades (Moritz ”
DNA barcoding Australia's fish species (2005, background): “However, the approach is not without controversy (e.g. Lipscomb et al. 2003; Moritz & Cicero 2004).”
DNA Barcoding is not enough: mismatch of taxonomy and genealogy in New Zealand grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae). (2008, background): “There are insuﬃcient examples exploring intraspeciﬁc diversity among sister species to know this (Moritz and Cicero, 2004) and what data are available show that paraphyly is rather common (Funk and Omland, 2003).”
Refined Global Analysis of Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodoidea: Aleyrodidae) Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase 1 to Identify Species Level Genetic Boundaries (2010, background): “Species delineation using a single gene is controversial (Moritz and Cicero 2004, Cognato 2006, Rubinoff 2006).”
Molecular identification methods of fish species: reassessment and possible applications (2009, background): “These introgressions could sometimes disturb molecular identification of closely related species (Moritz and Cicero 2004).”
DNA barcoding reveals cryptic diversity in marine hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from coastal and deep‐sea environments (2007, background): “…have centred around the resolution of intra- and interspecific variation in DNA sequences (Hewitt 1996; Avise & Johns 1999; Hebert et al. 2003b; Moritz & Cicero 2004; Meyer & Paulay 2005) including problems associated with inherited symbionts (Hurst & Jiggins 2005), with introgression/…”
The perils of DNA barcoding and the need for integrative taxonomy. (2005, background): “, 2003a, 2003b) is recognized as nothing fundamentally new (Moritz and Cicero, 2004; Sperling, 2003).”
New insights into the phylogeny, systematics and DNA barcoding of Nemertea (2014, background): “However, among other factors, the functionality of DNA barcoding is contingent on two presumptions: the presence of a high-coverage barcode database, and the presence, within any given group of organisms, of a wide DNA barcoding gap – the difference between the highest intraspecific variation and th”
DNA barcoding of shared fish species from the North Atlantic and Australasia: minimal divergence for most taxa, but Zeus faber and Lepidopus caudatus each probably constitute two species (2008, background): “For these species, limited regional sampling is unlikely to negate or fundamentally diminish the utility of the barcode methodology in other parts of the species’ range (cf. Moritz & Cicero 2004, Dasmahapatra & Mallet 2006).”
Quantitative criteria for species delimitation (2010, background): “…the process by delimiting species en masse (Hebert et al. 2004), but barcodes cannot replace taxonomy for a variety of reasons, not least because they reflect a single locus or character (see Moritz & Cicero 2004, DeSalle et al. 2005, Meyer & Paulay 2005, Will et al. 2005, Elias et al. 2008).”
DNA barcoding as a tool for coral reef conservation (2007, background): “Moritz and Cicero (2004) re-examined the Wndings by Hebert et al. (2004a), who found COI-5 divergence between species of North American birds ranges from 7.05 to 7.93% while divergence within species ranges from 0.27 to 0.43%.”
Mitochondrial DNA as a marker of molecular diversity: a reappraisal (2009, background): “Issues regarding the general utility (and use) of mtDNA barcodes are under constant debate and research (e.g. Moritz & Cicero 2004; Hurst & Jiggins 2005; Meyer & Paulay 2005; Hickerson et al. 2006; Elias et al. 2007; Roe & Sperling 2007; Whitworth et al. 2007; Wiemers & Fiedler 2007; Rach et al.…”