Ribosomal DNA sequence data abounds from numerous studies on the dinoflagellate endosymbionts of corals, and yet the multi-copy nature and intragenomic variability of rRNA genes and spacers confound interpretations of symbiont diversity and ecology. Making consistent sense of extensive sequence variation in a meaningful ecological and evolutionary context would benefit from the application of a...

Cyanobacteria of the genera Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus play a key role in marine photosynthesis that contributes to the global carbon cycle and to the world oxygen supply. Recently, genes (psbA-encoding the D1 protein, psbDencoding the D2 protein and others) that encode the photosystem II (PSII) reaction centre were found in cyanophage genomes. This phenomenon suggested that horizontal t...

Fabaceae is a huge family that contains a large number of medicinal plants, many of which are commonly used in Chinese traditional medicine. However, traditional taxonomy has not been able to meet the complicated demands of species discrimination within Fabaceae. Thus, we employed a famous DNA barcode, the psbA-trnH region, to discriminate commonly used medicinal species of the family Fabaceae....

The matK gene is named according to its possible maturase function and its location within the trnK gene encoding the tRNA (UUU). A 509 open reading frame was found to reside in an intron when the trnK gene was sequenced in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) (Sugita et al., 1985). Later, a complete sequence of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha confirmed the existence of this open reading frame in th...

In this study, we tested the applicability of the core DNA barcode MATK for identifying species within the Fabaceae family. Based on an evaluation of genetic variation, DNA barcoding gaps, and species discrimination power, MATK is a useful barcode for Fabaceae species. Of 1355 plant samples collected from 1079 species belonging to 409 diverse genera, MATK precisely identified approximately 80 %...

The cultivated date palm is the most agriculturally important species of the Arecaceae family. The standard chloroplast DNA barcode for land plants recommended by the Consortium for the Barcode of Life plant working group needs to be evaluated for a wide range of plant species. Therefore, we assessed the potential of the matK and rpoC1 markers for the authentication of date cultivars. There is ...

Etioplasts of 4.5-day-old dark-grown barley synthesize and accumulate most of the membrane and nearly all the soluble polypeptides of mature chloroplasts of light-grown seedlings. Etioplasts do not synthesize a limited set of chloroplast-encoded polypeptides which are major constituents of chloroplast thylakoid membranes: two chlorophyll apoproteins of photosystem I (68 and 65 kDa), two chlorop...

There is no easy way to identify to species, a small, vegetative leaf or culm sample of a grass and there are more than 12,000 species in this large, important family. The long-range aim of our study is to produce a standard DNA barcode library available to the public for all grasses (±1960 species) in North America (includes all Canada, Mexico and USA) that will facilitate the easy identificat...