DNA Barcodes for the Cariceae (Carex & Kobresia, Cyperaceae) of North America, North of Mexico

• Main Author: Chouinard, Brianna Nicole
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Ottawa (Canada) 2010
• Subjects: Biology; Evolution and Development; Systematic; Arctic; Arctic Archipelago
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/28543; https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-19321

The Cariceae (Carex & Kobresia; Cyperaceae) account for ca. 10% of Canada's native vascular plants, yet diversity within the tribe is overlooked due to its taxonomically-difficult floral morphology. DNA barcoding is a useful tool for identifying animals and the technique is currently being adapted for use in plants. This thesis develops a reference barcode database for the Cariceae of North America, north of Mexico, using the chloroplast gene matK. A species resolution rate of 39% is reported, although when broken down into political regions, this can increase to 75%. Unknown tissue samples from across North America were then identified using this reference database; 50% of these were identified to a single species matching the morphological identification, and 50% were identified to a group of taxa containing the correct identification. An ecogeographical regional database for the Arctic Archipelago was also challenged with 230 unknown samples and identified 98% to a single species.