title: Universal COI primers for DNA barcoding amphibians.
abstract: DNA barcoding is a proven tool for the rapid and unambiguous identification of species, which is essential for many activities including the vouchering tissue samples in the genome 10K initiative, genealogical reconstructions, forensics and biodiversity surveys, among many other applications. A large-scale effort is underway to barcode all amphibian species using the universally sequenced DNA region, a partial fragment of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I COI. This fragment is desirable because it appears to be superior to 16S for barcoding, at least for some groups of salamanders. The barcoding of amphibians is essential in part because many species are now endangered. Unfortunately, existing primers for COI often fail to achieve this goal. Herein, we report two new pairs of primers (➀, ➁) that in combination serve to universally amplify and sequence all three orders of Chinese amphibians as represented by 36 genera. This taxonomic diversity, which includes caecilians, salamanders and frogs, suggests that the new primer pairs will universally amplify COI for the vast majority species of amphibians.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Che
authors.forename: Hong-Man
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jun-Xiao
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jie-Qiong
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Zhi-Yong
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Ya-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D029845:Amphibian Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D000663:Amphibians / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics*; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D029845:Amphibian Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV