HIGHLIGHTS A multiplex PCR to identifying mycobacteria of medical interest was evaluated. Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be differentiated from other with the assay. The assay showed high sensitivity and specificity in detecting M. avium complex.

The ITS2 gene class shows a high sequence divergence among its members that have complicated its annotation and its use for reconstructing phylogenies at a higher taxonomical level (beyond species and genus). Several alignment strategies have been implemented to improve the ITS2 annotation quality and its use for phylogenetic inferences. Although, alignment based methods have been exploited to ...

We sequenced the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS2) from several glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS) [Homalodisca vitripennis Germar (=H. coagulata Say)] egg parasitoid species (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) belonging to the genus Gonatocerus Nees to test the utility of this fragment to confirm species boundaries and to define phylogenetic relationships. A total of 35 specime...

In pursuit of developing fast and accurate species-level molecular identification methods, we tested six DNA barcodes, namely ITS2, matK, rbcLa, ITS2+matK, ITS2+rbcLa, matK+rbcLa and ITS2+matK+rbcLa, for their capacity to identify frequently consumed but geographically isolated medicinal species of Fabaceae and Poaceae indigenous to the desert of Cholistan. Data were analysed by BLASTn sequence...

Internal transcribed spacer 1 and 2 (ITS1 and ITS2) sequences were analysed in Ensis razor shells (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Pharidae). We aimed to (1) test ITS1 and ITS2 as molecular markers at the population level in the successful alien E. directus (Conrad, 1843); (2) test these spacers at the species level in E. directus and three other Ensis species, E. siliqua (L., 1758), E. macha (Molina, 1782...