DNA barcoding in quarantine inspection: a case study on quarantine insect monitoring for Lepidoptera obtained through quarantine inspection on foreign vessels

Mitochondrial DNA B Resour. 2018 Dec 27;4(1):43-48. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2018.1536447. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

We conducted quarantine insect species diversity monitoring using DNA barcoding with 517 lepidopteran samples that were obtained from quarantine inspections of foreign vessels entering Korea. For species delimitation and species identification of the analyzed samples, we applied a 2% cutoff rule. Consequently, 145 (368 samples) were considered taxonomically identified. Therefore the number of samples that were identified to the species level was relatively low, at approximately 71%. Thirty of 145 species were not known in Korea, three, i.e., Noctua pronuba (Noctuidae), Orthosia hibisci (Noctuidae), and Pieris brassicae (Pieridae), were checked as 'Regulated pests' in Korea.

Keywords: DNA barcode; Lepidoptera; quarantine inspection; quarantine pest; vessel.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the R&D project ‘Development of determination method of the species and the origin of Asian Gypsy Moth intercepted in the port area [project number: B-1541785-2013-15-02]’.