Identification, Functional Annotation and Analysis of COS Markers in Zingiber and its Utility in DNA Barcoding

Species identification is exceedingly difficult in Zingiberaceae due to similarities in morphological characteristics between species, the plants’ phenotypic plasticity, and their short and seasonal flowering cycles. DNA barcoding has great potential in Zingiberaceae, both for the confirmation of raw materials in the pharmaceutical sector and as a tool in conservation biology and ecology. A suitable barcode target in the family Zingiberaceae is yet to be discovered. Conserved ortholog set (COS) markers are single-copy evolutionary conserved genes in two or more species that share common ancestry (orthologous).