Life Sciences Commons^™

Assessing The Value Of Dna Barcodes And Other Priority Gene Regions For Molecular Phylogenetics Of Lepidoptera, John James Wilson

John James Wilson

Background: Despite apparently abundant amounts of observable variation and species diversity, the order Lepidoptera exhibits a morphological homogeneity that has provided only a limited number of taxonomic characters and led to widespread use of nucleotides for inferring relationships. This study aims to characterize and develop methods to quantify the value of priority gene regions designated for Lepidoptera molecular systematics. In particular, I assess how the DNA barcode segment of the mitochondrial COI gene performs across a broad temporal range given its number one position of priority, most sequenced status, and the conflicting opinions on its phylogenetic performance. Methodology/Principal Findings: Gene …