My thesis "DNA Barcoding and Lepidoptera Taxonomy" is available to order online at http://gradworks.umi.com/NR/67/NR67863.html
DNA barcoding and Lepidoptera taxonomy
by Wilson, John James, Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH , 2010, 215 pages; NR67863
Abstract:
The Lepidoptera are a globally distributed, charismatic group with extensive previous taxonomic attention yet still can be considered "unknown". This thesis investigates the impact large-scale sequencing of DNA barcodes for lepidopteran species could have on the future of Lepidoptera taxonomy. The DNA barcode region from 40,000 freshly caught lepidopteran specimens from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), Costa Rica were assembled in Barcode Of Life Datasystems and combined with DNA sequences collected as part of other large-scale projects to perform experiments related to this investigation. The accuracy of using sequence comparisons and reference libraries to assign unknown specimens to pre-defined groups (species, genus, tribe and subfamily) was explored, including the effects of decisionary system choice and library completeness. I then explored the extent to which the groups themselves could be improved through analysis of DNA barcodes. Barcodes were employed in combination with morphology and ecological knowledge collected in ACG to rapidly improve species hypotheses. The deeper phylogenetic utility and signal of barcodes were compared with nuclear genes, and the effect of taxon sampling on phylogenetic hypotheses was explored. The results suggest barcoding is effective for assigning unknowns to pre-defined taxa but also presents valuable data to improve and redefine taxa.
About me
- johnjameswilson
- Liverpool, United Kingdom
- I am interested in how we can use DNA sequences to understand biodiversity – how do we recognise species, and how are species related at taxonomic, ecological and geographic levels? My passion for biodiversity research has led me from the world’s largest natural history collection - Natural History Museum, London, where I completed my MSc, to the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario - global centre for the international Barcode of Life, as a PhD student, and to the hyper-diverse tropics of Southeast Asia. The tropics will be the first regions to experience historically unprecedented climates and this will happen within the next decade. Consequently my recent research has focussed on understanding the effects of urbanisation and climate change on tropical and subtropical biodiversity - encompassing both species richness and ecological integrity across a diversity of taxonomic groups.
