Application of PDF417 symbology for 'DNA Barcoding'

DNA sequences consisting of about 600 base pairs of the 5' region of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene has been proposed as DNA Barcodes for taxonomical identification of species in different animals. We evaluated the application of two-dimensional barcodes for 'DNA Barcoding'. 'PDF417' symbology was applied to convert DNA Barcode sequences already proposed [N. Pradeep Kumar, A.R. Rajavel, R. Natarajan, P. Jambulingam, DNA Barcodes can distinguish species of Indian mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). J. Med. Entomol. 77 (2007) 1-7.] for 10 different species of mosquitoes prevalent in India. Decoding of these digital images using 2-D scanner and a suitable software reproduced the input DNA sequences unchanged. This analysis indicated the utility of PDF417 for 'DNA Barcoding', which could be of definite use for taxonomic documentation of animals.