PILBseq - A plastid and ribosomal sequence database developed from herbarium material for accurate plant identification

Effective identification of species is critical for biodiversity conservation in the context of changing land use and resource development. Whole plastid genome sequences provide great promise for DNA-based plant identification because they avoid many of the limitations of classical single-gene barcoding. We applied short read high-throughput sequencing of DNA samples obtained from herbarium material to develop a sequence resource for the Pilbara, Western Australia, an area with a rich and diverse arid zone flora, but also an important global source of iron ore and lithium.