DNA barcoding for plant protection: applications and summary of available data for arthropod pests.

Over the last decade, DNA barcoding - the use of short, standardized DNA sequences for species identification - has emerged as an important tool to study biodiversity. However, given the challenge and importance of accurately identifying plant pests, we argue for the use of DNA barcoding as a tool to aid in phytosanitary regulation and integrated pest management. Additionally, the rigorous data quality standard of DNA barcoding complements both regulatory and management tasks. In this review, we describe the current and potential applications of DNA barcoding for plant pest management, with a particular focus on terrestrial arthropods, as well as introduce and discuss some analytical methodologies and tools used for DNA barcoding research. Furthermore, we summarize the currently available DNA barcode data for a composite global pest list of 1044 plant pests, compiled from six international pest lists.