DNA Barcoding of Italian Terrestrial Vertebrates.

Although Italy is known as a biodiversity hotspot, knowledge about genetic diversity is still generally lacking. This is especially evident for the class of birds, one of the best known and most studied vertebrate groups, of which only 311 sequences belonging to 31 species and 29 BINs are currently present on BOLDSystem. As part of the BaC “BIOURBAN-IMON” project, we started an extensive sequencing of the mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase I (COI) region, used as a standard for animal DNA barcoding. Comprehensive DNA barcode reference libraries are essential not only for species-level identification but also for small- and large-scale species evolution and diversity studies, species identification by eDNA metabarcoding, forensic analyses, and species conservation efforts. Our group has developed two biobanks of Italian birds: one from the 2000s consisting of muscle associated with voucher specimens, the other consisting of blood associated with biometric data. These resources, along with the scientific collections of the Carmagnola Museum of Natural History, enabled COI sequencing of Italian birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. So far, we’ve sequenced over 160 Italian bird species (1–8 samples each from across the peninsula, Sicily, and Sardinia), increasing BOLD coverage by 500% in species and 140% in sequences. Our goal is to reach 90% national species coverage. Work is ongoing to expand the genetic reference database for all Italian terrestrial vertebrates, including reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, groups better represented in BOLD but still missing some species.