DNA Barcode in plants biodiversity of a wetland area in Central Italy

DNA barcoding is a technique in which species identification is performed using universal DNA sequences from a small fragment of the genome (Lahaye et al. 2007). Biodiversity characterization/conservation would be one of the main benefits of the widespread application of barcoding, in terms of speed, low cost, reliability, and improved resolution power. In combination with scuba diving, it could become a useful complement for ecological and taxonomical assessments of aquatic vegetation. Here, this method was tested for the first time on plants inhabiting a wetland area. Our objective was to provide a test for future in situ application of DNA Barcodes by evaluating the efficacy of species discrimination under the criteria of methods and natural cooccurrence of the species in the ecosystem. After collecting and identifying ca. 40 specimens, DNA Barcoding was performed using the three most efficient markers (trnH-psbA, rbclA, rpoC1) proposed by the Consortium for the Barcode Of Life (CBOL). Investigated plants were collected in the WWF protected wetland area “Lago di Alviano” which covers around 900 hectares of ecosystems important for migratory birds as well as many other animals and plants. Among the studied species, many are typically present in natural eutrophic lakes with Magnopotamion or Hydrocharition-type vegetation in Europe. Two of them are floating on the water, five are submerged, thirteen emerged or living very close to water and five sampled species are trees closely related to water habitats. Nine species are also widely used for phytoremediation. Finally, we preformed DNA Barcoding of Amorpha fructicosa, an invasive plant nowadays becoming a serious problem in European wetlands.Dottorato di ricerca in Scienze e tecnologie per la gestione forestale e ambiental