Species identification is usually the necessary first step in biological research and many related life science disciplines. Among other factors, inexpensiveness, speed, automation, parallelization, ease of application, and increased availability are causing molecular markers in taxonomy to evolve into a very widely used tool for species identification. Within a worldwide initiative, 'DNA barcoding' standardizes this approach regarding marker choice, data and data collection, etc. Currently, a multitude of institutions in around 50 countries are compiling large barcode reference libraries that merge into a central online database. In my presentation I want to show how these barcoding projects, often organized as national campaigns, qualify as one of the most valuable sources for biobank specimens of wild organisms. This applies to the speed with which samples are obtained, to the quality of the underlying data (taxonomic determinations etc.), to vouchering requirements, to the diversity and taxonomic coverage of samples, to collecting permits, and to molecular subsampling. Non-human biobanks should be highly aware of this source and should plead for and guarantee the longevity and high-quality storage of the molecular (sub)samples of DNA barcoding, thus consolidating their role as a key infrastructure not only for biodiversity-centered research but also for the many disciplines dependent on it.

Jonas Astrin is curator of the biobank and head of the DNA barcoding unit at the Zoological Museum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK), Germany. He was trained as a (molecular) zoologist (Dr. rer. nat.) at the universities Würzburg, Bonn, and UT Austin (TX) and as a scientific librarian (M.A. LIS) at the Humboldt University Berlin. Merging these two specializations brought him to animal biobanking.

The ZFMK biobank is a member of the DNA Bank Network, of the Frozen Ark initiative and of the Global Genome Biodiversity Network. It stores fixed tissue and DNA samples.

The ZFMK and partners recently launched a nation-wide DNA barcoding campaign, GBOL – German Barcode of Life, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and which follows the goal to molecularly catalog as many species of animals, plants and fungi in Germany as possible.