Timber tales: tracing the origin and species identity of African timbers using plastid genomes

ABSTRACT

samples of two timber species (addressing barrier a).Using these samples, we developed whole plastomes that can be used in its entirety or in specific parts for SNP detection and determining the plastid haplotypes (addressing barrier b).Next, we evaluated the spatial distribution of haplotypes and the spatial genetic structure, applied DNA barcoding to blind samples to verify timber claims for the two species, and compared assignment tests with the plastome-wide SNP sets (addressing barrier c).Finally, we explored the integration of genetic tracing with multi-element and isotopic analysis (addressing barrier d).In this way, the thesis addresses critical challenges in the field of tropical timber tracing and contributes to the fight against illegal logging.