Identifying Fishes through DNA Barcodes and Microarrays.

BACKGROUND: International fish trade reached an import value of 62.8 billion Euro in 2006, of which 44.6% are covered by the European Union. Species identification is a key problem throughout the life cycle of fishes: from eggs and larvae to adults in fisheries research and control, as well as processed fish products in consumer protection. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study aims to evaluate the applicability of the three mitochondrial genes 16S rRNA (16S), cytochrome b (cyt b), and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) for the identification of 50 European marine fish species by combining techniques of "DNA barcoding" and microarrays. In a DNA barcoding approach, neighbour Joining (NJ) phylogenetic trees of 369 16S, 212 cyt b, and 447 COI sequences indicated that cyt b and COI are suitable for unambiguous identification, whereas 16S failed to discriminate closely related flatfish and gurnard species. In course of probe design for DNA microarray development, each of the markers yielded a high number of potentially species-specific probes in silico, although many of them were rejected based on microarray hybridisation experiments. None of the markers provided probes to discriminate the sibling flatfish and gurnard species. However, since 16S-probes were less negatively influenced by the "position of label" effect and showed the lowest rejection rate and the highest mean signal intensity, 16S is more suitable for DNA microarray probe design than cty b and COI. The large portion of rejected COI-probes after hybridisation experiments (>90%) renders the DNA barcoding marker as rather unsuitable for this high-throughput technology. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Based on these data, a DNA microarray containing 64 functional oligonucleotide probes for the identification of 30 out of the 50 fish species investigated was developed. It represents the next step towards an automated and easy-to-handle method to identify fish, ichthyoplankton, and fish products.

Development of a short oligonucleotide microarray for the detection and identification of multiple potyviruses.

The genus Potyvirus is the largest and one of the most economically important virus genera infecting plants. However, current diagnostic techniques are limited in their ability to identify multiple potyvirus infections. An assay that can identify multiple potyviruses simultaneously, with good specificity and sensitivity, is therefore highly desirable. To determine the feasibility of simultaneous detection of multiple potyviruses a 25-mer oligonucleotide microarray was developed targeting four distinct potyviruses: Dasheen mosaic virus (DsMV), Leek yellow stripe virus (LYSV), Potato virus Y (PVY) and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV). A total of 85 probes including 33 perfect-match and 52 mismatch probes were designed from conserved and variable sequence regions of the nuclear inclusion b (NIb) gene, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene, coat protein (CP) gene and the 3' untranslated region (UTR), representing the four targeted potyviruses at both species and strain levels. Each probe was synthesized with spacers of either 6 or 12 poly-cytosine or poly-thymine at the 5' terminus. The array showed high specificity when tested with nineteen different geographically diverse potyvirus isolates of the four target species, four distinct but closely related potyviruses, and four healthy plant species. The approaches and protocols developed in this study form a useful basis for developing other potyviruses arrays and the results also provide useful insights into generic issues for the development of arrays for detecting other pathogens.