Verification of 36 microalgae collected from southern coastal region in South Korea using DNA barcoding

Abstract

Microalgae has been estimated that about 200,000-800,000 species. Some of them are useful but some of them are harmful for human such as red tide. Accordingly, we need to identify accurately them. But, every species in the Earth can’t identify accurately with just morphology. In order to instantly determine the possible types of microalgae, DNA barcode data analysis was conducted using molecular markers. DNA chip technology is an efficient method for species-level identification and, as such, will contribute powerfully to taxonomic and biodiversity research. In order to identify microalgae species, the mitochondrial COI gene, which has been shown to be widely applicable in animal barcoding, was used; the selected species-specific probe was 23 bp and was printed onto silylated slides using a robotic microarrayer. Additionally, COI genes were amplified from the genomic DNA of microalgae using the primers LCO1490 and HCO2198 targeted to COI. In this study, we amplified and analyzed species-specific COI sequences for 36 microalgae species collected at south sea in South Korea. Herein, we describe each of the microalgae species detected via microarray analysis. As a result, the COI barcode sequence technique was found to be suitable for the identification of microalgae from South Korea.