Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
Bioessays. 2011 Feb;33(2):135-47. doi: 10.1002/bies.201000036.
DNA barcodes, like traditional sources of taxonomic information, are potentially powerful heuristics in the identification of described species but require mindful analytical interpretation. The role of DNA barcoding in generating hypotheses of new taxa in need of formal taxonomic treatment is discussed, and it is emphasized that the recursive process of character evaluation is both necessary and best served by understanding the empirical mechanics of the discovery process. These undertakings carry enormous ramifications not only for the translation of DNA sequence data into taxonomic information but also for our comprehension of the magnitude of species diversity and its disappearance. This paper examines the potential strengths and pitfalls of integrating DNA sequence data, specifically in the form of DNA barcodes as they are currently generated and analyzed, with taxonomic practice.
DNA 条形码与传统的分类学信息来源一样，在描述物种的鉴定中具有潜在的强大启发作用，但需要谨慎的分析解释。本文讨论了 DNA 条形码在生成需要正式分类处理的新分类单元假设方面的作用，并强调了通过了解发现过程的经验力学，对特征评估的递归过程进行评估是必要的，也是最有益的。这些努力不仅对将 DNA 序列数据转化为分类学信息，而且对我们理解物种多样性的规模及其消失具有巨大的影响。本文考察了将 DNA 序列数据（特别是目前生成和分析的 DNA 条形码形式）与分类学实践相结合的潜在优势和陷阱。
