Barcode of Life: Identifying Priority Washington State Species with DNA Barcoding

Being able to unambiguously determine species is an important objective for biological inferences and regulatory processes.  Yet, in many cases, the species represented by a specific biological sample may not be readily apparent and may require assumptions about the species involved.  For example, a mixed collection of small juvenile fish may represent several morphologically similar species.  Also, forensics casework often examines biological materials such as hair, blood and muscle tissue with species identification assumed based on circumstantial evidence.  The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Molecular Genetics Laboratory has begun an initiative to produce reference Barcode of Life sequence products for priority fish and wildlife species of the State.  The genetic barcodes will be a publically available resource for species determination.