Barcode Wales
We aim to be one of the first nations to DNA barcode all of their native flowering plants (all 1143 species) and to use our barcodes for biodiversity conservation and to improve peoples’ lives.
Imagine you could identify any plant species in Wales from the tiniest fragment of leaf, seed or pollen grain; this is possible using DNA barcoding. This technique uses a small section of DNA to act as a unique identifier for that species. The first step is to assemble reference barcodes for the plants that we want to identify.
Here’s an example of the DNA barcode of spreading bellflower (Campanula patula), an herbarium specimen of the species and images of it in the wild
Once reference barcodes are in place, unknown DNA sequences can be compared to these in order to find out what they are. The real importance of the technique is that it can identify species from tiny fragments, different life stages, or from mixtures of samples. Species can be identified from pollen grains, fragments of seeds or roots, wood, faecal samples, stomach contents or environmental samples collected from the air, soil or water. Projects are now underway throughout the world to DNA barcode all living things and ensure that these barcodes are freely available online as a global resource. There are many potential applications of DNA barcoding for plants, for example we could:
- Understand why pollinators are endangered. We are working with Aberystwyth University on a project that can track pollinator movements using DNA barcoding to identify the pollen grains carried on pollinators’ bodies.
- Find out what plants bees have visited to make honey. We are working with Cardiff University to use this information for drug discovery.
- Understand the habitat requirements of endangered animals by finding out what plants they eat at different times of the year from faecal samples.
- Potentially reconstruct past landscapes by identifying plants from seeds within the soil profile.
- Help to understand how plant communities are assembled, vital for predicting the effect of climate change.
- Could help to monitor the effects of hay fever by being able to identify exactly what pollen is in the atmosphere.
- Could assist in forensic investigations by being able to identify plant fragments found on clothing or at crime scenes.
- Improve animal health by analysing the exact composition of the diet of livestock in pastures.
- Provide quality control for plant based products such as herbal medicines by identifying the constituent components.
- Identify plants that are difficult to I.D. morphologically.
Vital to the establishment of DNA barcodes is having correctly identified source material, every reference barcode must have a voucher specimen so that its identity can be verified. We use herbarium specimens from the National Museum Wales and the National Botanic Garden of Wales for most of our barcoding, as these are convenient to use and already verified. We also collect new specimens from plant species throughout Wales and the UK. A tiny fragment of the herbarium specimen is removed and the DNA extracted from this.
We then amplify the barcode DNA; for plants there are two barcode regions, the genes rbcL and matK. These are recognised internationally so that everyone throughout the world uses a standard approach. Once the barcodes are amplified we sequence them to find out the exact DNA code for that specimen for the two barcode regions. The completed barcodes are uploaded on to the Barcode of Life Database along with the voucher information and a scan of the herbarium specimen. Once our project is complete, visitors to the website will be able to view and download all of the barcode information. For each species, we need to have multiple specimens barcoded, this allows us to spot errors and also to pick up if there is any variation within species in the barcode sequences. We will barcode three samples for each species.
This is a joint project between the National Botanic Garden of Wales (Dr Natasha de Vere) and National Museum Wales (Dr Tim Rich). Funding to support this project comes from the Countryside Council for Wales, Welsh Government and donations from private benefactors. You too can help support Barcode Wales by sponsoring a barcode!
To find out more about DNA barcoding visit:
International Barcode of Life (iBOL)
Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
