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Identification of insect pests as food foreign materials using DNA barcodes
Author(s) -
Cho Seo Young,
Suh Kyong In,
Yoon Tae Joong,
Na Ja Hyun,
Bae Yeon Jae
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
entomological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 1748-5967
pISSN - 1738-2297
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-5967.2011.00436.x
Subject(s) - biology , dna barcoding , insect , identification (biology) , barcode , zoology , mitochondrial dna , dna sequencing , key (lock) , microbiology and biotechnology , evolutionary biology , ecology , gene , genetics , computer science , operating system
Insect foreign materials in food are of great economic and hygienic significance. However, identifying these species with any certainty requires an expert taxonomist and can be a time consuming process. Furthermore, insects are found as body parts or they are immature specimens that cannot be identified by conventional means. For these reasons, a reference database and efficient means of identification by non‐specialists are necessary to control insect pests. In this study, we chose 15 important insect pest species, because they had a higher probability of being included in human foods. We tested the utility of the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) DNA barcodes for the identification. A 658‐bp fragment of the COI gene was sequenced, aligned, and a sequence data bank was constructed. As a result, the COI barcode sequence was suitable for identifying insect pests as food foreign materials. Photographs of morphological key characters by stereoscopic microscope and a pictorial key of the species are provided.