DNA Barcoding for Marine Organisms

The Philippines is a mega-diverse country where 30–90% of all known species of marine fish, corals, molluscs, seagrass, algae, and large marine vertebrates are found. These are threatened by over-exploitation and weather extremes. The effort to document and protect our fisheries resources is a race against time.  Much of these are anchored on the ability to identify organisms to species.

The process of DNA barcoding involves DNA extraction, amplification of the diagnostic DNA region, and DNA sequencing. These DNA sequences are cross-referenced to sequences on-line. With DNA barcoding, identifying the species of eggs, larvae and juveniles, and tissues of individuals that are no longer intact is possible.

Institutions for higher education and research in the Philippines are investing in infrastructure for molecular biology and biotechnology. This manual is our effort to help in building the community that uses DNA markers for conservation and management.  Over the years, we and our partners have worked on marine invertebrates, fish, corals, and seaweed. We gather the lessons learned from successes and failures to produce this guide. This way our mistakes can become investments. It is our hope that it will help you develop a more efficient system for you and your lab.