Plant.ID — Molecular Identification of Plants

Results in brief

Molecular Identification of Plants

Plants provide food, feed, medicines, and construction materials. But they also affect us negatively through pollen allergies, poisonous species, invasive species, and as adulterants in herbal medicines. Nevertheless, plants are the most promising biological resource for our future. Current extinction risks and the decline in taxonomic expertise demand accurate and rapid identification approaches to understand and valorise botanical biodiversity. Advances in genomic data and DNA sequencing are revolutionizing plant systematics, and modern molecular identification methods make it possible to accurately determine plants in ways that were technically impossible only a decade ago. Recently, it has become possible to detect substitution in herbal pharmaceuticals, monitor invasive alien species, trace fragments such as pollen and spores, uncover illegal trade in endangered species, make rapid and accurate molecular biodiversity assessments, and study historical plant diversity through DNA in museum specimens. However, to efficiently harvest the potential of the opportunities provided by the new genomic techniques, society today is in urgent need of trained biosystematists experienced in both taxonomy and in handling enormous amounts of genomic data. Plant.ID addressed these challenges by bringing together academic and non-academic partners including regulatory agencies, industry, SMEs, and NGO stakeholders, to develop molecular identification of plants through tailored approaches including species delimitation, metabarcoding, gene capture, and genomic barcoding, in order to empower stakeholders with simplified molecular identification of plants. By bridging classical taxonomic expertise with cutting-edge genomic approaches, Plant.ID brought together a network of biodiversity researchers and institutions to address pressing impediments to describing and assessing plant biodiversity under threat; trained a new generation of 15 researchers with immediate relevance to harnessing the central role of plants in the modern world; and built a network for future collaboration within and beyond Plant.ID.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Many of the nearly 400,000 species of plants provide food, feed, medicines, and construction materials. Besides these positive impacts, plants also affect us negatively through pollen allergies, poisonous species, as invasive species, and as adulterants in herbal medicines. Nevertheless, plants are the most promising biological resource for our future. Current extinction risks of global flora and vast decline in taxonomic expertise demand accurate and rapid identification approaches to understand and valorise botanical biodiversity. Advances in genomic data and DNA sequencing are revolutionizing plant systematics, and modern molecular identification methods make it possible to accurately determine plants in ways that were technically impossible only a decade ago. Recently, it has become possible to detect substitution in herbal pharmaceuticals, monitor invasive alien species, trace fragments such as pollen and spores, uncover illegal trade in endangered species, make rapid and accurate molecular biodiversity assessments, and study historical plant diversity through DNA in museum specimens. However, to efficiently harvest the potential of the opportunities provided by the new genomic techniques, society today is in urgent need of trained biosystematists experienced in both taxonomy and in handling enormous amounts of genomic data. Plant.ID will innovatively address these challenges by bringing together academic and non-academic partners including regulatory agencies, industry, SMEs and NGO stakeholders, with the aim of developing molecular identification of plants through tailored approaches to species delimitation, metabarcoding, gene capture, and genomic barcoding, in order to empower stakeholders with simplified molecular identification of plants. By bridging classical taxonomic expertise with cutting-edge genomic approaches, Plant.ID will train a new generation of ESRs who will have immediate relevance to harnessing the central role of plants in the modern world.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

UNIVERSITETET I OSLO · OsloCoordinatorNorway
AGENTSCHAP PLANTENTUIN MEISE · MeiseBelgium
ARISTOTELIO PANEPISTIMIO THESSALONIKIS · THESSALONIKIGreece
BASECLEAR BV · LeidenNetherlands
Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh · EdinburghUnited Kingdom
DIATOMELLA · OVERASSELTNetherlands
DIREKTORATET FOR MEDISINSKE PRODUKTER · OSLONorway
DUTCH GROUP OF VIOLIN AND BOW MAKERS · DEN HAAGNetherlands
ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS · THERMI THESSALONIKIGreece
GOETEBORGS UNIVERSITET · GoeteborgSweden
KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN · LeuvenBelgium
KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET · KOBENHAVNDenmark
MEDICINES AND HEALTHCARE PRODUCTS REGULATORY AGENCY · LondonUnited Kingdom
NATUREMETRIX · EghamUnited Kingdom
NEFELOUDIS FOOD ADDITIVES · ThessalonikiGreece
NORGES TEKNISK-NATURVITENSKAPELIGE UNIVERSITET NTNU · TrondheimNorway
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS KEW · RichmondUnited Kingdom
ROYAL MUSEUM FOR CENTRAL AFRICA · TervurenBelgium
SELECT NATURE · CopenhagenDenmark
STICHTING NATURALIS BIODIVERSITY CENTER · LeidenNetherlands
THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH · EdinburghUnited Kingdom
TRANSMITTING SCIENCE · BarcelonaSpain
UNIVERSITE GRENOBLE ALPES · GrenobleFrance
UNIVERSITEIT LEIDEN · LeidenNetherlands
UNIVERSITETET I TROMSOE - NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET · TromsoNorway
VASTRA GOTALANDSREGIONEN · VANERSBORGSweden
WILDLIFE JUSTICE COMMISSION · DEN HAAGNetherlands

Plant.ID · Molecular Identification of Plants

Results in brief

Molecular Identification of Plants

Project objective

Participants

Links