A LIBRARY of insect DNA barcodes being built by Industry and Investment NSW (I and I) researcher Dr David Gopurenko at Wagga Agricultural Institute will prove crucial in the battle against invasive pests.
The research is funded by the NSW Government's BioFirst initiative and is now in its third year.
The barcoding work characterises a single gene across a broad range of species.
Information from the gene is used as a DNA barcode for species identification.
As more species are barcoded, the library builds up and can be used as a reference to later identify suspected insect pests.
The technology is easily applied to insect eggs and larvae, which are often impossibleto identify to species level by visual means.
"Barcoding of insect DNA provides a rapid means of species identification greatly assisting and speeding efforts of the traditional insect taxonomists who are few and far between in Australia," Dr Gopurenko said. "It is particularly useful for rapidly identifying invasive insect pests, such as the Asian gypsy moth, which if introduced to this region, would have terrible consequences for the timber industry.
"The Asian gypsy moth is hard to distinguish, particularly the larval form."
Email a friend