Approaches in development of DNA based identification system for industrially important timber species

Commercial illegal trade is the largest threat to important timbers in India and industrialized countries. Timber species valued for its wood and wood products are smuggled in the adulterated form that cannot be taxonomically identified. The development of DNA marker method to identify and control the origin of tree and tree products from tropical tree species would greatly contribute to distinguish legally from illegally harvested wood. Therefore, DNA barcoding has been anticipated as a reliable technique for wood species identification that can ensure that the tree harvested and traded are the same species/origin. The availability of DNA barcodes for increasing numbers of timber species allows rapid and accurate species identification. This is the first attempt to assemble all the timber barcodes which are available as a reference for the timber species of India. This paper describes whole DNA barcoding process from collection of plant material, to extract DNA and amplification as well as sequencing the amplified region to barcode generation.