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Abstract
Background and aims. Previous studies carried out with DNA barcoding, based on regional groups, have shown that a standard mitochondrial gene could be used to identify birds. In the present study, we present an additional DNA barcoding survey of birds, using taxonomic groups instead of regional groups to verify the effectiveness of DNA barcoding on distinguishing species and to test whether the intraspecific clusters of species are associated with geographical discontinuities.
Materials and methods. Taxonomic groups of three avian families—Phasianidae, Accipitridae, and Strigidae—were included in the study. The cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) sequences of 49 individuals were determined. Together with 122 sequences from previous studies, a total of 171 sequences from 66 bird species were analyzed.
Results and conclusion. Results showed that all 66 species investigated had unique COI sequences and no sequences were shared between the species. Our results were congruent with previous studies suggesting that the COI barcode permits distinguishing most of the closely related species. Furthermore, by using geographically distinct clusters, diagnostic characters, and threshold levels, deep genetic splits (>1.5%) were observed in three species, and we therefore suggest treating them as evolutionary significant units.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Sichuan University Museum, Chengdu Zoo, Chengdu Wildlife World, and Chengdu Changle Wildlife Breeding Institution for providing samples. They thank Guo Cai, Xin Zhou, Yu Xu, and Nan Yang for collecting the specimens in the wild. The authors also thank E.H. King for additional comments and editing the manuscript.
Declaration of interest: The present study was funded by the Applied Science Project of Sichuan Province (No. 002045301275).