TY - JOUR T1 - Tracking the global supply chain of herbal medicines with novel genomic DNA barcodes JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/744318 SP - 744318 AU - Vincent Manzanilla AU - Irene Teixidor-Toneu AU - Gary J. Martin AU - Peter M. Hollingsworth AU - Hugo J. de Boer AU - Anneleen Kool Y1 - 2019/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/08/22/744318.abstract N2 - Uncontrolled and unsustainable trade in natural resources is an increasingly important threat to global biodiversity. In recent years, molecular identification methods have been proposed as tools to monitor global supply chains, to support regulation and legislative protection of species in trade, and enhancing consumer protection by establishing whether a traded product contains the species it is supposed to contain. However, development of an effective assay that routinely provides species-level identification and information on geographical origin of plants remains elusive, with standard plant DNA barcodes often providing only ‘species group’ or genus-level resolution. Here, we demonstrate the efficacy of target-capture genomic DNA barcoding, based on 443 nuclear markers, for establishing the identity and geographic origin of samples traded as the red-listed medicinal plant Anacyclus pyrethrum (L.) Lag. We also use this approach to provide insights into product adulteration and substitution in national and international supply chains. Compared with standard plant DNA barcodes and entire plastid genome sequences, the target capture approach outperforms other methods, and works with DNA from degraded samples. This approach offers the potential to meet the ‘holy-grail’ of plant DNA barcoding, namely routine species-level DNA-based identification, and also providing insights into geographic origin. This represents a major development for biodiversity conservation and for supporting the regulation and monitoring of trade in natural plant products.Significance Unsustainable exploitation of natural resources is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Up to a third of the world’s biodiversity is considered threatened by trade, but a lack of traceability methods for traded products impedes evaluation of international supply chains and the global impacts of trade on biodiversity. In this study, we pioneer the use of target capture-based genomic DNA barcoding. We compare this with standard DNA barcodes and complete plastid genome sequences for the identification of plants species in trade and for tracing their geographic origin. The target-capture barcoding approach described here presents a major advance for tracing the geographic origin of plant-based food and medicines and establishing the identity of illegally traded species. It enables better understanding and targeting of conservation action, and enhances capacity to assess the quality, safety and authenticity of traded products. ER -