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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #392609
Research Project: Systematics of Beetles, Flies, Moths and Wasps with an Emphasis on Agricultural Pests, Invasive Species, Biological Control Agents, and Food Security

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Enhancing DNA barcode reference libraries by harvesting terrestrial arthropods at the National Museum of Natural History

Author
item SANTOS, B. - FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF PARANA POLYTECHNIC CENTER
item MILLER MEREDITH - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
item MIKLASEVSKAJA, MARGARITA - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
item MCKEOWN, JACLYN - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
item REDMOND, NAIMH - SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
item CODDINGTON, J. - SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
item BIRD, JESSICA - SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
item MILLER, SCOTT - SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
item SMITH, ASHTON - SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
item BRADY, SEAN - SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
item Buffington, Matthew
item Chamorro, Maria
item DIKOW, TORSTEN - SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
item Gates, Michael
item Goldstein, Paul
item Konstantinov, Alexander - Alex
item Kula, Robert
item SILVERSON, NICK - SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
item Solis, M Alma
item NAIK, SURESH - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
item NIKOLOVA, NADIA - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
item PENTINSAARI, MIKK0 - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
item PROSSER, SEAN - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
item SONES, JAYME - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
item ZAKHAROV, EVGENY - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
item DEWAARD, J. - UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Submitted to: Biodiversity Data Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/30/2023
Publication Date: 4/24/2023
Citation: Santos, B., Miller Meredith, Miklasevskaja, M., Mckeown, J., Redmond, N., Coddington, J., Bird, J., Miller, S., Smith, A., Brady, S.G., Buffington, M.L., Chamorro, M.L., Dikow, T., Gates, M.W., Goldstein, P.Z., Konstantinov, A.S., Kula, R.R., Silverson, N., Solis, M.A., Naik, S., Nikolova, N., Pentinsaari, M., Prosser, S., Sones, J., Zakharov, E., Dewaard, J.R. 2023. Enhancing DNA barcode reference libraries by harvesting terrestrial arthropods at the National Museum of Natural History. Biodiversity Data Journal. 11:1-17. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.11.e100904.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.11.e100904

Interpretive Summary: Rapid and accurate identification of insects is critical to protecting Amercan agriculture and food safety therein. This paper is a massive collaborative effort between ARS and Smithsonian Institution to DNA 'barcode' large portions of the National Insect Collection. These barcode data can be used by other entomologists, worldwide, for rapid, and accurate, identifications of pestiferous and beneficial insects.

Technical Abstract: The use of DNA barcoding has revolutionized biodiversity science, but its application depends on the existence of comprehensive and reliable reference libraries. For many poorly known taxa, such reference sequences are missing even at higher-level taxonomic scales. We harvested the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (USNM) to generate DNA barcoding sequences for genera of terrestrial arthropods previously not recorded in one or more major public sequence databases. Our workflow used a mix of Sanger and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) approaches to maximize sequence recovery while ensuring affordable cost. In total, COI sequences were obtained for 5,686 specimens belonging to 3,888 genera and 202 families. Success rates varied widely according to collection data and focal taxon. NGS helped recover sequences of specimens that failed a previous run of Sanger sequencing. Success rates and the optimal balance between Sanger and NGS are the most important drivers to maximize output and minimize cost in future projects. The corresponding sequence and taxonomic data can be accessed through the Barcode of Life Data System, GenBank, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Global Genome Biodiversity Network Data Portal and the NMNH data portal.