title: Integrated taxonomy: traditional approach and DNA barcoding for the identification of filarioid worms and related parasites (Nematoda).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We compared here the suitability and efficacy of traditional morphological approach and DNA barcoding to distinguish filarioid nematodes species (Nematoda, Spirurida). A reliable and rapid taxonomic identification of these parasites is the basis for a correct diagnosis of important and widespread parasitic diseases. The performance of DNA barcoding with different parameters was compared measuring the strength of correlation between morphological and molecular identification approaches. Molecular distance estimation was performed with two different mitochondrial markers (coxI and 12S rDNA) and different combinations of data handling were compared in order to provide a stronger tool for easy identification of filarioid worms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DNA barcoding and morphology based identification of filarioid nematodes revealed high coherence. Despite both coxI and 12S rDNA allow to reach high-quality performances, only coxI revealed to be manageable. Both alignment algorithm, gaps treatment, and the criteria used to define the threshold value were found to affect the performance of DNA barcoding with 12S rDNA marker. Using coxI and a defined level of nucleotide divergence to delimit species boundaries, DNA barcoding can also be used to infer potential new species.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An integrated approach allows to reach a higher discrimination power. The results clearly show where DNA-based and morphological identifications are consistent, and where they are not. The coherence between DNA-based and morphological identification for almost all the species examined in our work is very strong. We propose DNA barcoding as a reliable, consistent, and democratic tool for species discrimination in routine identification of parasitic nematodes.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze, ZooPlantLab, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, P,zza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milano, Italy. maurizio.casiraghi@unimib.it.
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferri
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbuto
authors.forename: Odile
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bain
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galimberti
authors.forename: Shigehiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uni
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guerrero
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ferté
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bandi
authors.forename: Coralie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casiraghi