Identification of rice plants via DNA barcoding for securing future food availability

Abstract Given the continuous increase in the world population, producing more food is necessary. The majority of people across the world consume rice as the main food. Thus, it is essential to produce more rice plants to be able to feed the growing world population. Molecular biology techniques have advanced rapidly, allowing the exploration and discovery of various plants by examining their DNA genome, which is called DNA barcoding. This paper aims to develop a pipeline for the identification and exploration of rice plants by utilizing a DNA barcoding approach. We chose the rbcL gene as a target region for DNA barcoding. Then, we retrieved the sequences of different rice species from the online database. After performing sequence analysis, a set of primers were designed, which were then used for in-silico PCR amplification. We have shown that the designed primers have fulfilled the desired criteria. In addition, the gel electrophoresis confirmed the successful amplification of the rbcL gene using the designed primers. Hence, this study can be used to identify rice species or variants with superior traits. This may help to solve the food availability issue in the future.