Plant DNA Barcoding

My lab was part of an NSERC Strategic Network and national collaborative effort (consisting of 4 PIs, 4 PDFs) to test, develop and apply barcoding tools to plants. Our lab was involved in among the most comprehensive evaluations of candidate barcode regions to date and our data was instrumental (with 3 international groups) in brokering an international agreement on a standard barcode region for land plants. Equally important we have explored the applications of this tool for studies in ecology (pollination, belowground community structure and function), and evolutionary biology (phylogeography, the nature of species boundaries in plants vs animals). The work has been foundational for the explosion of barcoding research and applications around the globe.

Researchers: Prasad Kesanakurti (PDF)