Why the COI barcode should be the community DNA metabarcode for the metazoa. Issue 20 (17th September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Andújar, Carmelo; Arribas, Paula; Yu, Douglas W.; Vogler, Alfried P.; Emerson, Brent C.
• Is Part Of: Molecular ecology. Volume 27:Issue 20(2018)
• Page Start: 3968
• Page End: 3975
• Publication Date: 2018-09-17
• Subjects: barcoding -- eDNA -- high‐throughput sequencing -- metabarcoding -- next‐generation sequencing; Molecular ecology -- Periodicals; Molecular population biology -- Periodicals; 576
• DOI: 10.1111/mec.14844
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0962-1083

Abstract

Abstract: Metabarcoding of complex metazoan communities is increasingly being used to measure biodiversity in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, revolutionizing our ability to observe patterns and infer processes regarding the origin and conservation of biodiversity. A fundamentally important question is which genetic marker to amplify, and although the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene is one of the more widely used markers in metabarcoding for the Metazoa, doubts have recently been raised about its suitability. We argue that (a) the extensive coverage of reference sequence databases for COI; (b) the variation it presents; (c) the comparative advantages for denoising protein‐coding genes; and (d) recent advances in DNA sequencing protocols argue in favour of standardizing for the use of COI for metazoan community samples. We also highlight where research efforts should focus to maximize the utility of metabarcoding.