Our cell bank routinely performs DNA barcoding analysis for authentication of animal species from which each cell line is derived. This analysis is based on the DNA sequence of 658bp PCR product derived from mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1 or also known as COX1). By comparing the result of CO1 sequence with those registered in the publicly available databases such as Barcode of Life Data Systems（BOLD）and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the animal species can be identified.
This analysis became applicable for identification of animal species, since the DNA sequences of mitochondrial CO1 of many animal species are accumulated in publicly available databases following the development of DNA sequence technology.
【Reference】
Almeida, J.L., Cole, K.D., and Plant, A.L.
Standards for Cell Line Authentication and Beyond. PLoS Biol 14: e1002476 (2016).
