Research Article

Limited efficiency of universal mini-barcode primers for DNA amplification from desert reptiles, birds and mammals

Published: December 08, 2011
Genet. Mol. Res. 10 (4) : 3559-3564 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4238/2011.October.31.3
Cite this Article:
I.A. Arif, H.A. Khan, A. Sadoon, M. Shobrak (2011). Limited efficiency of universal mini-barcode primers for DNA amplification from desert reptiles, birds and mammals. Genet. Mol. Res. 10(4): 3559-3564. https://doi.org/10.4238/2011.October.31.3
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Abstract

In recent years, DNA barcoding has emerged as a powerful tool for species identification. We report an extended validation of a universal DNA mini-barcode for amplification of 130-bp COI segments from 23 specimens collected from a desert environment, including 11 reptiles, five mammals and seven birds. Besides the standard double-annealing protocol, we also tested a more stringent single-annealing protocol. The PCR success rate for the amplification of the mini-barcode region was: mammals (4/5), reptiles (5/11) and birds (4/7). These findings demonstrate the limited utility of universal primers for mini-barcoding, at least for these vertebrate taxa that we collected from the Saudi Arabian desert.

In recent years, DNA barcoding has emerged as a powerful tool for species identification. We report an extended validation of a universal DNA mini-barcode for amplification of 130-bp COI segments from 23 specimens collected from a desert environment, including 11 reptiles, five mammals and seven birds. Besides the standard double-annealing protocol, we also tested a more stringent single-annealing protocol. The PCR success rate for the amplification of the mini-barcode region was: mammals (4/5), reptiles (5/11) and birds (4/7). These findings demonstrate the limited utility of universal primers for mini-barcoding, at least for these vertebrate taxa that we collected from the Saudi Arabian desert.