National training cum workshop on "DNA BARCODING OF FISH AND MARINE LIFE - MOLECULAR ANALYSIS AND BIOINFORMATICS APPROACHES"

The concept and technology of DNA barcoding is of very recent origin which facilitates species identifications through the use of short, standardized gene region, mitochondrial Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit I (COI). Currently, DNA Barcoding is being employed in large variety of organisms ranging from yeasts to human beings. Several workers have validated the effectiveness of DNA barcoding in species identifications. Barcoding promises to revolutionize our capacity to know and monitor biodiversity through use of standardized gene region (DNA Barcode) as a tool for both identification of known species and discovery of new ones. DNA barcoding approach, consisting of identifying a specimen as belonging to a certain animal species based on a single universal marker: the DNA barcode sequence. Over the last 8 years, this approach has become increasingly popular and advances as well as limitations have clearly emerged as increasing amounts of organisms have been studied. Establishing DNA barcodes to identify previously defined groups of organisms at any taxonomic level is a powerful application of modern technology to biodiversity study. DNA barcoding is a unique concept with many innovative attributes undertaking continuous improvement. It is not the goal but the tool to be used in order to improve our understanding of the surrounding world. It is a fast, reliable and cheap method for species identification and discovery. It provides permanent tags unchanged during taxonomic revisions. It will have multiple applications for marine life: identification of larvae, invasive species, cryptic species, new species, illegal trade of protected species, stock management, biodiversity assessments, ecosystem monitoring, revisions of certain taxa, inference of phylogenetic relationships, phylogeographic and speciation patterns.