R&D CENTER

Current Status of DNA Barcode sequences of Invasive and Exotic Pests Based on Web-based Integrated Platform

Donghyun Kim, Jonghyun Park, Xi Hong, Wonhoon Lee, Kwanseok Lee, Jongsun Park
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Due to rapid increase of international trade, many invasive and exotic pests have been introduced in Korea. One of typical example is Solenopsis invicta found in harbor and nearby areas unexpectedly triggering alerts of invasive and exotic pests. Practically, critical limitation to identify these species based on morphology exists because of lack of experts, so that it is very important to develop fast and accurate methods to identify these species. Molecular marker is one of candidates for satisfying these requirements of invasive and exotic pests: usually COI gene has been used for identifying insect species efficiently. Here, we developed web-based integrated platform for identifying invasive and exotic pests. As a first step, we collected 71,146 COI sequences from 529 species which are potentially invasive and exotic pests in Korea. In addition, we are collecting their complete mitochondrial genome sequences for evaluating additional marker regions which can be more effective for identifying species. Web-based interfaces are under development to access these raw data as well as bioinformatic analysis function to identify species based on mitochondrial sequences. Our platform will be a fundamental resources not only to identify invasive and exotic pests effectively but also to understand ecology of these species to find anticipative policies to prevent invasion of these species.