Building a plant DNA barcode library; fieldwork edition

Building a Plant DNA Barcode Library: Fieldwork Edition

This post provides resources and advice from the Kartzinel Lab to help you plan and build a plant DNA reference library to use in dietary metabarcoding projects, which evidence has shown can markedly improve results. We recently did the math and found that our team has produced some of the most extensive and widely used DNA barcode libraries in the world, with experience from Kenyan savannas, Yellowstone National Park, arid scrublands of Chile, and many other places around the world.

Researchers and practitioners often ask us for advice or assistance in building plant DNA reference libraries for use in dietary DNA metabarcoding projects. We do this for all of our major projects that require resolving the plant component of animal diets because evidence shows it can markedly improve the quality of results.

To centralize access to our freely available methods, including annotations that share some our most important lessons-learned from experience, I have created a section on the lab's website for all of our Field Protocols, including our protocol for plant DNA barcode collections.

For plant DNA barcode collections, all of the details provided are nested within two main goals.

The first goal is to collect plant voucher specimens and plant DNA barcode samples that match in ways that can be clearly documented  through their respective metadata sheets. This is critical for the long-term value of the data.

​The second goal is to ensure work done by field biologists and molecular biologists are mutually informative -- the best reference libraries are developed through the meaningful engagement of expert botanists who are knowledgeable in a local flora and the researchers who will be analyzing the laboratory data. 

We love to archive relevant vouchers in the Brown University Herbarium. Please keep in mind that the herbarium is staffed by expert botanists. Properly collected specimens can be mounted, archived, and digitized by professional staff -- this greatly reduces the cost and complexity of fieldwork. 

You may also like:​

• Plant DNA Barcoding to Advance Biodiversity Goals: Kartzinel interview with Mongabay News
• Our software to evaluate plant DNA barcode coverage as you plan your study
• Information about how to contract with the Kartzinel Lab to design or build DNA barcode libraries