Figure 1.: Participating members of the ABOL (Austrian Barcode of Life) network. Image from Austrian Barcode of Life (2024).
Introduction
The ABOL initiative is a biodiversity network of experts and institutions, including the University of Salzburg, that “aims to record the genetic diversity of all Austrian animal, plant and fungi species via DNA barcodes” (Fig. 1). DNA barcodes generated by ABOL partners are made freely accessible on the international BOLD (Barcode of Life Datasystem) platform, for fast and reliable species determination from anywhere in the world.
As members of ABOL (2017 – ongoing), our goal in AG Tribsch is to generate and publish DNA barcodes from all plant species found in Austria, with an emphasis on geographic sampling breadth, endemic and rare taxa, and alpine flora. To date (September, 2024) we have collected almost 2,500 samples from throughout Austria from more than 1,400 taxa. We are working to generate barcodes from the entirety of our DNA collection and to make this data publicly available.
Thus far, we have generated barcodes from taxa of research interest to our group, including Austrian representatives of Gentiana, Pedicularis, and Saxifraga, as well as Ericaceae, Juncaceae, Orchidaceae, and Primulaceae, among other groups. We engage students in our efforts in our yearly Plant DNA Barcoding course, and through student research projects at the bachelor’s and master’s levels. In addition, we have developed protocols for generating plant DNA barcodes from more difficult taxa, including representatives of non-vascular plants, such as Lycopodiaceae, Selaginellaceae and diverse mosses including Sphagnum and Polytrichum.
AG Tribsch is also involved in the OSCA (Open Science Collections Austria) consortium (2024 – ongoing) whose aim is to develop skills and capacities for Austrian natural history collections. Our research
team is developing a workflow for linking and publishing multidimensional data on the ‘extended specimen’ from herbarium material ( SZU), including: sequencing information (DNA barcodes), geospatial information and high-resolution images. As members of the endemic pilot project, we are prioritizing records of 100 endemic plants of the eastern calcareous Alps (Fig. 2A-G).
Publications and talks
Press and news
Financing
ABOL is coordinated by the Natural History Museum Vienna and is financed by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. OSCA is coordinated by the Natural History Museum Vienna and is financed by the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport.
Figure 2A-G.: Selection of the endemic plants of Austria present in our DNA bank (ABOL) and herbarium (SZU). Vouchers of these taxa will be barcoded, imaged, georeferenced, and uploaded to the OSCA portal for public research access. Pulmonaria kerneri (Fig. 2A), Primula villosa (Fig. 2B), Oxytropis campestris subsp. tiroliensis (Fig. 2C), Saxifraga stellaris subsp. prolifera (Fig. 2D), Gentiana froelichii (Fig. 2E), Callianthemum anemonoides (Fig. 2F) and Androsace wulfeniana (Fig. 2G). All photos from Botanik im Bild, Natural History Museum Vienna (2024).
